'All-or-None' Versus 'Most-or-Some' Options in Risky Choice: Effects of Domain and Handedness

摘要

Two methodological variants of Kahneman and Tversky's Asian disease scenario were investigated. One variant involved replacing the "all-or-none" outcome scenarios of the risky choice with "most-or-some" scenario outcomes, and the second variant involved replacing the negative domain of lives lost with a positive domain of jobs created. In addition, the effects of strength of handedness, a variable related to individual differences in risk perception, were examined. Results indicated that standard framing effects were obtained across both domains, with a decrease in risky choice under the gain domain. Scenario type also interacted with handedness, such that the all-or-none scenario yielded framing effects for consistent (strong)-handers only, whereas the most-or-some scenario yielded framing effects for inconsistent (mixed)-handers only (consistent-handers are those who use the same hand exclusively for almost all activities). These results demonstrate that framing effects are strongly influenced by the presence versus absence of extreme/absolute outcomes and that individuals (in this case, decision makers with varying degrees of handedness strength) are differentially sensitive to different pieces of information.