Risk Propensity, Action Readiness and the Roles of Societal and Individual Decision Makers

摘要

Decision making by public officials and citizens was compared by eliminating different socio-economic backgrounds and different available information; to investigate the effects of adopting one role or the other (societal vs individual). Dependent measures were the willingness to choose a risky option vs a sure outcome, and the readiness to take explicit action or not. A total of 478 student subjects read the same cover story which deals with the decision problem of how to limit the number of victims of an epidemic. The results (choices and reasons) show that societal decision makers are less likely than individuals to take explicit action. Taking action is more often preferred when associated with the risky option than with the sure outcome. The large majority of subjects justify their choice on the basis of the number of victims. Results are discussed in terms of framing.