Speaker: Dr. Stefano Palminteri, INSERM & ENS
Abstract
Contrary to the normative standpoint, empirical studies have repeatedly reported that risk preferences are affected by the disclosure of choice outcomes (feedback).
Although no solid consensus has yet emerged regarding the properties of this effect, a widespread and intuitive hypothesis is that repeated feedback affects risk preferences by altering the representation of subjective probabilities – a learning effect.
Here, after critically surveying the available literature, we ran a series of seven experiments (N=538), tailored to decipher the effects of feedback on risk preferences.
Our results indicate that the presence of feedback consistently increases risk-taking, even when the risky option is economically less advantageous.
Crucially, risk-taking increases just after the instructions, before participants experience any feedback.
These results challenge the learning account, and advocate for a dispositional effect, induced by the mere anticipation of feedback information.
Epistemic curiosity and regret avoidance may drive this effect in partial and complete feedback conditions, respectively.
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