When Size Matters: Sensitivity to Missed Opportunity Size Increases With Stronger Assessment

Abstract

This research shows that the strength of assessment orientation, defined as the “aspect of self-regulation concerned with critically evaluating entities or states,” increases a person’s sensitivity to the size of a missed opportunity. Study 1 revealed that the experimental induction of an assessment orientation reduced the likelihood to act on a present offer after missing out on a large opportunity. Following a small missed opportunity, on the contrary, seizing the present offer was more likely. Studies 2 and 3 generalized this effect to chronic assessment orientations. In Study 4, the findings were replicated in a field study, which also demonstrated that differential value judgments explain assessors’ sensitivity to the size of a missed opportunity.

Inaction inertia in retirement saving

“…Inaction inertia has been observed for a wide variety of decisions such as buying groceries, signing up for a fitness center, enrolling in a university course, buying a ski pass, and betting on horse racing (Arkes, Kung, & Hutzel, 2002;Tykocinski et al, 1995;Tykocinski & Pittman, 1998;Zeelenberg, Nijstad, van Putten, & van Dijk, 2006). It has been linked to temporary dips in product sales after a promotion (Zeelenberg & van Putten, 2005), to failures and deadlocks in international negotiations (Terris & Tykocinski, 2016), to lower motivation to work on a crowdsource platform after missing a bonus (Mathmann, Higgins, Chylinski, & De Ruyter, 2017), and to investors' reluctance to leave bear markets (Tykocinski, Israel, & Pittman, 2004). In all these studies, people were less likely to act on an attractive opportunity when they had missed a much more attractive opportunity in the past (for reviews, see Tykocinski & Ortmann, 2011;van Putten, Zeelenberg, van Dijk, & Tykocinski, 2014;van Putten, Zeelenberg, & van Dijk, 2013).…”

Effects of experienced regret on risky decision making are dependent on risky degree

“…The findings in the present study might be consistent with the inaction inertia effect, which refers that bypassing an initial opportunity alters the likelihood that subsequent opportunities will be taken (e.g., Tykocinski & Pittman, 1998; Tykocinski, Pittman & Tuttle, 1995, van Putten, Zeelenberg, van Dijk & Tykocinski, 2013). Moreover, this inaction inertial effect was found to be affected by the size of missed opportunities, namely, individuals were more likely to accept a present opportunity after missing out on a small opportunity, but to reject the present opportunity after missing out a large opportunity (Mathmann, Higgins, Chylinski & de Ruyter, 2017). The present findings might extend previous studies, in which the inaction inertia effect is affected also by the size of present opportunities.…”

Why Do I Seek Negative Feedback? Assessment Orientation, Self-Criticism, and Negative Feedback-Seeking

“…Although most of the current literature on assessment orientation and locomotion orientation has been concentrated in the field of social psychology (e.g., Pierro et al, 2011 ; Mathmann et al, 2017 ; Webb et al, 2017 ), an accumulating body of studies begins to apply it the organizational context ( Kruglanski et al, 2007b ; Chernikova et al, 2016 ; Lo Destro et al, 2016 ). However, the potential impact of regulatory mode on employees’ negative feedback-seeking has not yet been examined.…”