When do people exploit moral wiggle room? An experimental analysis of information avoidance in a market setup

Momsen, Katharina; Ohndorf, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106479

Cited by 32 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Momsen and Ohndorf ( 2022 ) report that for information structures with stochastic revelation, self-serving information avoidance is more likely to arise if the differences in payoffs are not too large. A similar effect is reported in Momsen and Ohndorf ( 2020 ) for complete revelation and small but positive information costs.…”

Section: Behavioral Predictionssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…First, in order to reflect the initial juxtaposition by Brennan and Lomasky ( 1993 ), we included an individual choice situation which was framed as a consumption decision. Hence, the individual choice condition was similar to the design used in Momsen and Ohndorf ( 2020 , 2022 ) with subjects taking the role of buyers, while the supply side of the market was computerized. 12 In each round, subjects had to decide which of the two virtual products to purchase.…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They hence exploit moral wiggle room created via their deliberate lack of information (Dana et al, 2007 ). While there is ample experimental evidence of the exploitation of moral wiggle room in individual decision-making (e.g., Dana et al, 2007 ; Grossman & van der Weele, 2017 ; Momsen & Ohndorf, 2020 ), its importance in the context of incentivized voting decisions has not yet been investigated. In this paper, we present the results of a lab experiment designed to analyze the interactions between expressive voting and information avoidance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2 For a more detailed discussion of the two approaches, which were both initially conceived in social psychology, see Momsen and Ohndorf ( 2020 ). For a first formalization of cognitive dissonance to explain information avoidance in the context of individual decisions, see Momsen and Ohndorf ( 2022 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 5 This treatment also ensures comparability with previous lab experiments investigating moral wiggle room exploitation in individual decision-making. See, for example, Dana et al ( 2007 ), Larson and Capra ( 2009 ), Fong and Oberholzer-Gee ( 2011 ), Matthey and Regner ( 2011 ), Grossman and van der Weele ( 2017 ), Feiler ( 2014 ), Grossman ( 2014 ), Lind et al ( 2019 ), and Momsen and Ohndorf ( 2020 , 2022 ). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Expressive voting versus information avoidance: experimental evidence in the context of climate change mitigation

Momsen

Ohndorf

2022

Public Choice

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We theoretically and experimentally investigate the effect of self-serving information avoidance on moral bias in democratic and individual decisions in the context of climate change mitigation. Subjects choose between two allocations that differ in payoffs and contributions to climate change mitigation. We vary the observability of the environmental contribution, as well as the decision context associated with different levels of pivotality. If the contribution is directly observable, we find evidence for lower pivotality leading to higher levels of “green” decisions, as predicted by the low-cost theory of voting. This effect disappears if subjects can avoid information on the contribution. Instead, we find evidence for the exploitation of moral wiggle room via information avoidance in larger democracies as well as in the consumption context. Our results indicate that information avoidance substitutes expressive voting as an instrument to manage cognitive dissonance on the part of the voter. Hence, moral biases in elections might be less likely than previously thought.

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Section: Behavioral Predictionssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Expressive voting versus information avoidance: experimental evidence in the context of climate change mitigation

Momsen

Ohndorf

2022

Public Choice

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Avoiding Financial Information: The Roles of Fate and Money Beliefs

Montford,

Timmerman

2024

J of Consumer Behaviour

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The current research explores the influence of belief in fate on the avoidance of information about one's current financial situation. Building on research in the areas of consumer behavior and consumer decision‐making, we explore how implicit beliefs about money impact the relationship between an individual's belief in fate and avoidance of information about current financial situation. We find that fatalism positively predicts a greater likelihood of avoiding current financial information (Studies 1a and 1b). We further find evidence that this effect is mediated by two money scripts, defined as implicit beliefs about money, in particular, avoidant and status scripts (Study 2). In other words, situation avoidance occurs because individuals higher in fatalism have a greater belief in either an avoidant or status script, which further heightens their avoidance of information about their financial situation. Next, we introduce perceived control over money as a moderating factor of the relationship between these money beliefs and situation avoidance (Study 3). We find that the impact of money script on avoidance is weakened when individuals have higher perceived control over money, while lower perceived control further strengthens the relationship between money script and situation avoidance. Finally, the key effect is then generalized to various types of financial contexts (Study 4). We conclude with implications of these findings for theory, policy makers, managerial decision‐making, and consumer well‐being.

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The effect of deliberate ignorance and choice procedure on pro-environmental decisions

Moyal

Schurr²

2022

Ecological Economics

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When do people exploit moral wiggle room? An experimental analysis of information avoidance in a market setup

Cited by 32 publications

References 37 publications

Expressive voting versus information avoidance: experimental evidence in the context of climate change mitigation

Expressive voting versus information avoidance: experimental evidence in the context of climate change mitigation

Avoiding Financial Information: The Roles of Fate and Money Beliefs

The effect of deliberate ignorance and choice procedure on pro-environmental decisions

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