Why and when beliefs change: A multi-attribute value-based decision problem

Why people do or do not change their beliefs has been a long-standing puzzle. Sometimes people hold onto false beliefs despite ample contradictory evidence; sometimes they change their beliefs without sufficient reason. Here, we propose that the utility of a belief is derived from the potential outcomes of holding it. Outcomes can be internal (e.g., positive/negative feelings) or external (e.g., material gain/loss), and only some are dependent on belief accuracy. Belief change can then be understood as an economic transaction, in which the multidimensional utility of the old belief is compared against that of the new belief. Change will occur when potential outcomes alter across attributes, for example due to changing environments, or when certain outcomes are made more or less salient.

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Responsibility, Guilt, and Decision under Risk

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.2003.93.3f.1077 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 93 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1077-1079 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Francesco Mancini ◽

Amelia Gangemi

Keyword(s):

Risk Aversion ◽

Decision Problem ◽

Important Determinant ◽

Framing Effect ◽

Moral Values ◽

Risk Averse ◽

Decision Under Risk ◽

Risk Seeking ◽

Gain Loss

We hypothesize that individuals' choices (risk-seeking/risk-aversion) depend on moral values and, in particular, on how subjects evaluate themselves as guilty or as victims of a wrong rather than on the descriptions of the outcomes as given in the options and evaluated accordingly as gains or losses (framing effect). People who evaluate themselves as victims are expected to show a risk-seeking preference (context of innocence). People who evaluate themselves as guilty are expected to show a risk-averse preference (context of guilt). Responses of 232 participants to a decision problem were compared in four different conditions involving two-story formats (innocence/guilt) and two-question-options formats (gain/loss). Regardless of the format of the question options, the story format appears to be an important determinant of individuals' preferences.

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West – East: The semiotics of axiological convergences and divergences

Ars Aeterna ◽

10.2478/aa-2020-0004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 40-62

Author(s):

Ľubomír Plesník

Keyword(s):

Final Part ◽

Life Strategies ◽

Material Loss ◽

Verbal Representation ◽

The Core ◽

Material Gain ◽

Gain Loss ◽

The Cost

AbstractThis study focuses on the verbal representation of life strategies in Vetalapanchavimshati, an old Indian collection of stories, which is part of Somadeva’s Kathasaritsagara. On the basis of the aspect of gain ~ loss, two basic life strategies are identified. The first one, the lower strategy, is defined by an attempt to obtain material gain, which is attained at the cost of a spiritual loss. The second one, the higher strategy, negates the first one (spiritual gain attained at the cost of a material loss) and it is an internally diversified series of axiological models. The core of the study explains the combinatorial variants which, in their highest positions, even transcend the gain ~ loss opposition. The final part of the study demonstrates the intersections between the higher strategy and selected European cultural initiatives (gnosis).

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Foraging extends beyond food: Hoarding of mental energy and information seeking in response to uncertainty

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18001838 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Jessica L. Alquist ◽

Roy F. Baumeister

Keyword(s):

Information Seeking ◽

Potential Outcomes ◽

Food Hoarding

AbstractWhen an environment is uncertain, humans and other animals benefit from preparing for and attempting to predict potential outcomes. People respond to uncertainty both by conserving mental energy on tasks unrelated to the source of the uncertainty and by increasing their attentiveness to information related to the uncertainty. This mental hoarding and foraging allow people to prepare in uncertain situations.

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Weekly Exercise Consistently Reinstates Positive Mood

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.3.4.271 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 271-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Hannah Steinberg ◽

Briony R. Nicholls ◽

Elizabeth A. Sykes ◽

N. LeBoutillier ◽

Nerina Ramlakhan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Exercise ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Real Life ◽

Positive Mood ◽

Field Investigation ◽

Single Bout ◽

Before And After ◽

Exercise Class ◽

Negative Feelings ◽

Over Time

Mood improvement immediately after a single bout of exercise is well documented, but less is known about successive and longer term effects. In a “real-life” field investigation, four kinds of exercise class (Beginners, Advanced, Body Funk and Callanetics) met once a week for up to 7 weeks. Before and after each class the members assessed how they felt by completing a questionnaire listing equal numbers of “positive” and “negative” mood words. Subjects who had attended at least five times were included in the analysis, which led to groups consisting of 18, 20, 16, and 16 subjects, respectively. All four kinds of exercise significantly increased positive and decreased negative feelings, and this result was surprisingly consistent in successive weeks. However, exercise seemed to have a much greater effect on positive than on negative moods. The favorable moods induced by each class seemed to have worn off by the following week, to be reinstated by the class itself. In the Callanetics class, positive mood also improved significantly over time. The Callanetics class involved “slower,” more demanding exercises, not always done to music. The Callanetics and Advanced classes also showed significantly greater preexercise negative moods in the first three sessions. However, these differences disappeared following exercise. Possibly, these two groups had become more “tolerant” to the mood-enhancing effects of physical exercise; this may be in part have been due to “exercise addiction.”

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