Emotive Decisions: An Analysis from the Prospect Theory

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to verify if the effects of certainty and reflection proposed by the prospect theory remain equal by adding an affective load to the stimuli in risk situations. The hypotheses were that in both gain and loss situations, people will tend to choose the alternative rich in affect, regardless of whether it is a safe or probable option. The sample consisted of 320 psychology degree students, predominantly women, who were divided into groups of 40 people for each experimental condition. Everyone was given a problem with two response options to choose one of them. The statistical methods used were the Z Test for independent samples and the binomial test. The results obtained showed that there are no statistically significant differences when comparing the gain conditions between them, nor between the loss conditions, so that the hypotheses were confirmed since most of the participants opted for the option with affective load in all conditions, disappearing the effects of certainty and reflection proposed by the prospective theory.