In two experiments, we demonstrate that despite indicating indifference when probed about risk or delay in isolation, when forced to explicitly trade-off between the two, participants prefer delayed over risky rewards. This pattern of findings sets a boundary condition for any common utility-based comparison process involving both risk and delay. Furthermore, this change from indifference-in-is...

According to attachment theory, insecure individuals respond to events in their romantic relationships in ways that sometimes can be destructive. The objective of this research was to examine how these responses may accumulate over repeated interactions to influence the quality of the relationship. Across three studies, participants were presented with a "Choose Your Own Adventure" dating story...

There is growing interest in modelling how people make choices that involve both risks and delays, i.e., risky inter-temporal choices. We investigated an untested assumption underlying several proposed risky inter-temporal choice models: that pure risky choices and pure inter-temporal choices are special cases of risky inter-temporal choice. We tested this assumption by presenting a single grou...

When remembering past choices, people tend to attribute positive features to chosen options and negative features to rejected options. The present experiments reveal the important role beliefs play in memory reconstruction of choices. In Experiment 1, participants who misremembered which option they chose favored their believed choice in their memory attributions more than their actual choice. ...

We examined whether the classical framing effect observed with the Asian Disease problem could be reversed when people make decisions from experience. Ninety-five university students were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: Description, Sampling (where the participants were allowed to sample through the outcomes presented as a pack of cards) and Interactive (where the participants we...

When remembering past choices, people tend to attribute positive features to chosen options and negative features to rejected options. The present experiments reveal the important role beliefs play in memory reconstruction of choices. In Experiment 1, participants who misremembered which option they chose favored their believed choice in their memory attributions more than their actual choice. ...

Logical reasoning is at the heart of math courses. Wason’s selection task has been widely investigated to examine students’ reasoning; however, previous studies found that few participants could correctly solve Wason’s tasks. This study adopted a modified format of the selection task, context-embedded problems, as well as the standard selection tasks to look into high school and college student...

Defined contribution plans, predominantly 401(k)s, are the primary source of personal retirement savings for American workers, making the investment decisions within these accounts a salient policy concern. These decisions are a result of two separate actions: the mutual fund options selected by the employer’s plan administrator and the specific funds chosen by the participant. While considerab...

We examine how making mortality salient affects consumer choices. We develop a new theoretical framework predicting when consumer behaviors will be more (less) indulgent when mortality is salient, arguing that individuals focus more of their limited self-regulatory resources on domains that are important sources of self-esteem and less on domains that are not important sources. In two domains, ...