Affect, Reason, and Decision Making (ICPSR 24610)

Published: Sep 22, 2009

Principal Investigator(s):
Paul Slovic, Decision Research; Melissa Finucane, Decision Research; Ali Alhakami, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (Saudi Arabia). Psychology Department

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR24610.v1

Version V1

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Project Description

Summary

This study examines the commonly observed inverse relationship between perceived risk and perceived benefit. The researchers proposed that this relationship occurs because people rely on affect when judging the risk and benefit of specific hazards. The study tested and confirmed the hypothesis that providing information designed to alter the favorability of one's overall affective evaluation of an item (say nuclear power, natural gas, and food preservatives) would systematically change the risk and benefit judgments for that item. The study suggests that people seem prone to using an "affect heuristic" which improves judgmental efficiency by deriving both risk and benefit evaluations from a common source -- affective reactions to the stimulus item.

Citation

Slovic, Paul, Finucane, Melissa, and Alhakami, Ali. Affect, Reason, and Decision Making. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2009-09-22. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR24610.v1

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Funding

National Science Foundation (SBR 9422754)

National Science Foundation (SBR 9709307)

Subject Terms

decision making judgment natural gas nuclear energy nuclear power perceptions risk risk assessment risk factors

Geographic Coverage

Oregon United States Australia

Scope of Project

Time Period(s)

1995

Date of Collection

1997-08 -- 1999-07

Data Collection Notes

For a more detailed description of the study design, results, and discussion, please see the Finucane et al. paper included in the ICPSR codebook.

Methodology

Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to re-examine the commonly observed inverse relationship between perceived risk and perceived benefit.

Sample

Convenience sample.

Universe

College students.

Unit(s) of Observation

individual

Data Type(s)

experimental data

Mode of Data Collection

computer-assisted self interview (CASI) self-enumerated questionnaire

Version(s)

Original Release Date

2009-09-22

Version Date

2009-09-22

Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.

This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.