Exploring the determinants of affect: Examining rating scale assessments of gambles

Abstract

We undertake a series of tests examining the extent to which the affect heuristic (Slovic et al., 2002) is or is not triggered by changes in the framing and hence context of assessments of hypothetical gamble tasks using a rating scale response mode. Our initial investigations examine the replicability of findings using the same parameters used by Slovic et al. We then examine the robustness of the affect phenomena across a number of previously unexplored dimensions. These latter tests can be subdivided into two types. First we consider the persistence of affective responses to changes in the parameters of a given gamble. Second, we consider whether or not certain individuals are relatively more or less 'immune' to the affect heuristic as a decision making rule. We find that the affect heuristic is a commonly applied decision rule in a variety of contexts.