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Avoiding the risk of responsibility by seeking uncertainty: Responsibility aversion and preference for indirect agency when choosing for others
Author(s) -
Leonhardt James M.,
Keller L. Robin,
Pechmann Cornelia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.01.001
Subject(s) - preference , outcome (game theory) , decision maker , risk aversion (psychology) , psychology , loss aversion , agency (philosophy) , risk seeking , moral responsibility , ambiguity aversion , social psychology , economics , microeconomics , expected utility hypothesis , financial economics , political science , philosophy , ambiguity , linguistics , epistemology , management science , law
Uncertainty‐seeking behavior is currently understood as the result of loss aversion which motivates a preference for the possibility to avoid or lessen an otherwise sure loss. However, when choosing among negative options on behalf of others, we offer responsibility aversion as another possible motive for uncertainty‐seeking behavior. Within our conceptual model, responsibility aversion is defined as the preference to minimize one's causal role in outcome generation. Compared to certain options, uncertain options lessen the decision maker's causal role in outcome generation because the outcomes are partially determined by chance. The presence of chance increases indirect agency on behalf of the decision maker and lessens his or her perceived risk of responsibility. The results of five studies support a responsibility aversion motivation behind uncertainty‐seeking behavior.