Instrumental or emotional evaluations: what determines preferences?

The present study investigated the separability of two evaluative aspects, instrumental and emotional utilities, and tested the hypothesis that situational context influences the relative impact of these evaluations in decision making. Twenty-nine subjects rank ordered eight options according to their preferences. The options were hypothetical prizes the subjects could win, either in a mail lottery (private context) or in a TV show (public context). Subjects rated all options on utility scales and indicated their emotional associations. It was hypothesized that in the private context condition subjects' preferences were more influenced by emotions, whereas due to justification demands, preferences were more influenced by instrumental considerations in the public context condition. A multidimensional preference analysis yielded two dimensions. The second of these dimensions distinguished between experimental conditions. An individual differences scaling analysis yielded significantly higher subject weights for the second dimension in the public context group. The first dimension could be interpreted as mapping positive versus negative emotions, whereas the second dimension reflected instrumental evaluations. Regression analyses indicate that both instrumental and emotional evaluations significantly contribute in predicting preferences, but that the relation between preferences and evaluative dimensions is only indirect.