| Literature DB >> 27582723 |
Dawei Wang1, Liping Zhu1, Phil Maguire2, Yixin Liu1, Kaiyuan Pang3, Zhenying Li1, Yixin Hu1.
Abstract
This study explores the influence of different social reference points and different comparison group sizes on risky decision-making. Participants were presented with a scenario describing an exam, and presented with the opportunity of making a risky decision in the context of different information provided about the performance of their peers. We found that behavior was influenced, not only by comparison with peers, but also by the size of the comparison group. Specifically, the larger the reference group, the more polarized the behavior it prompted. In situations describing social loss, participants were led to make riskier decisions after comparing themselves against larger groups, while in situations describing social gain, they become more risk averse. These results indicate that decision making is influenced both by social comparison and the number of people making up the social reference group.Entities:
Keywords: peer group influence; risky decision making; social comparison; social framing; social reference points
Year: 2016 PMID: 27582723 PMCID: PMC4987381 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01232
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Psychol ISSN: 1664-1078
Percentage of participants taking risky choice and risk-seeking index (Mean).
| SRP | Risky-choice (%) | Risk-seeking index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| L-SRP | 30 | 63.3 | 5.93 |
| M-SRP | 29 | 55.2 | 5.34 |
| H-SRP | 27 | 66.7 | 6.18 |
| L-SRP | 36 | 66.7 | 6.28 |
| M-SRP | 31 | 61.3 | 5.13 |
| H-SRP | 33 | 78.8 | 6.69 |
| L-SRP | 32 | 43.8 | 5.25 |
| M-SRP | 28 | 71.4 | 6.07 |
| H-SRP | 28 | 85.7 | 6.96 |
Framing and General feelings (M ± SD).
| SRP | Framing | General feelings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| L-SRP | 30 | 6.07 ± 1.08 | 4.53 ± 0.68 |
| M-SRP | 29 | 5.69 ± 1.19 | 4.28 ± 0.73 |
| H-SRP | 27 | 5.18 ± 1.59 | 4.08 ± 1.04 |
| L-SRP | 36 | 6.47 ± 1.34 | 4.66 ± 1.06 |
| M-SRP | 31 | 4.87 ± 1.75 | 3.95 ± 1.28 |
| H-SRP | 33 | 4.12 ± 1.71 | 3.21 ± 0.99 |
| L-SRP | 32 | 6.22 ± 1.24 | 4.76 ± 0.78 |
| M-SRP | 28 | 4.96 ± 1.77 | 3.96 ± 0.97 |
| H-SRP | 28 | 3.57 ± 1.28 | 3.17 ± 0.91 |