Unstable Values in Lifesaving Decisions

IntroductIon Classical economic approaches to the study of preferences and risky choices assume that human preferences are stable and rational. However, subsequent empirical research has demonstrated that preferences are often constructed and that choices are influenced by a variety of factors that frequently deviate from normative decision-making models. While many of these studies have confirmed that preferences depend on presentation formats, response modes, processing modes, mood states, attitudes, and a host of other moderators (e.g., Lichtenstein and Slovic, 2006), it should be noted that preferences are also a manifestation of a decisionmaker’s inherent values. While core values are often seen as relatively stable (Malle and Dickert, 2007), tradeoffs among those values are often ill-defined, setting the stage for preference reversals induced by contextual factors that should not really matter (Lichtenstein and Slovic, 2006). But how do values shape our preferences and guide our decisions? In the present article we conceptualize preferences as manifestations of feelings and values, and briefly describe how they influence behavior in certain situations involving risk. Specifically, we aim to show how values can manifest themselves as preferences and influence choices in situations where people make decisions about others whose lives are at risk. Touching on issues relevant for risk perception and risk management as well as the underlying processes of valuations that lead to preferences, we go beyond the common conceptualization of risky choices represented as outcomes with well-defined probabilities. Instead, our research focuses on and documents people’s inconsistent use of values when making decisions about whether or not to aid other people whose lives are endangered. In our culture, most people would endorse a normative model asserting that every human life is intrinsically equal in value. This implies a linear relationship between the number of people at risk and the amount of money one should be willing to contribute in order to reduce or eliminate that risk. However, studies of actual behavior show that, descriptively, this is hardly ever the case (e.g., Slovic, 2007). On the contrary, as the number of people at risk increases, the marginal rate of contributions decreases, revealing a general insensitivity to large losses of life (Fetherstonhaugh et al., 1997). In many cases, valuations are actually highest for a single individual life and decrease when more lives are at risk (Kogut and Ritov, 2005; Small et al., 2007). In our research, we examine the underlying mechanisms that can explain some of the deviations between normative and descriptive models of helping behavior. In the remainder of this article, we highlight the role that affect plays in the construction of preferences for valuing the life of someone at risk and focus on some of the affective mechanisms we believe to be central to lifesaving decisions.