Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2012 Jun;102(6):1136-47. doi: 10.1037/a0027855. Epub 2012 Apr 9.
Substantial evidence suggests people are risk-averse when making decisions described in terms of gains and risk-prone when making decisions described in terms of losses, a phenomenon known as the framing effect. Little research, however, has examined whether framing effects are a product of normative risk-sensitive cognitive processes. In 5 experiments, it is demonstrated that framing effects in the Asian disease problem can be explained by risk-sensitivity theory, which predicts that decision makers adjust risk acceptance on the basis of minimal acceptable thresholds, or need. Both explicit and self-determined need requirements eliminated framing effects and affected risk acceptance consistent with risk-sensitivity theory. Furthermore, negative language choice in loss frames conferred the perception of high need and led to the construction of higher minimal acceptable thresholds. The results of this study suggest that risk-sensitivity theory provides a normative rationale for framing effects based on sensitivity to minimal acceptable thresholds, or needs.
大量证据表明，人们在以收益的形式描述决策时是风险规避的，而在以损失的形式描述决策时则是风险偏好的，这种现象被称为框架效应。然而，很少有研究检验框架效应是否是规范性风险敏感认知过程的产物。在 5 项实验中，证明了亚洲疾病问题中的框架效应可以用风险敏感性理论来解释，该理论预测决策者会根据最小可接受阈值或需求来调整风险接受度。明确的和自主的需求要求消除了框架效应，并根据风险敏感性理论影响风险接受度。此外，损失框架中的负面语言选择赋予了高需求的感知，并导致更高的最小可接受阈值的构建。本研究的结果表明，风险敏感性理论为基于最小可接受阈值或需求的框架效应提供了规范性的理由。
