Why real citizens would turn to artificial leaders

Robots and other artificial agents are increasingly present in eldercare, education, and at work. They are designed to help humans with tasks and to meet labor shortages?a technological fix for our times. In two experiments and a follow-up study, we investigate factors that influence the acceptance of artificial agents in positions of power, using attachment theory and disappointment theory as explanatory models. We found that when the state of the world provokes anxiety, citizens perceive artificial agents as a reliable proxy to replace human leaders. Moreover, people accept artificial agents as decision-makers in politics and security more willingly when they deem their leaders or government to be untrustworthy, disappointing, or immoral. Finally, we discuss these results with respect to theories of technology acceptance and the delegation of duties and prerogatives.

Adaptive consensus building in emergency group decision-making with hesitant fuzzy linguistic information: a perspective based on disappointment theory

In this article, an adaptive consensus model that considers individual disappointment emotion is proposed for emergency multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problems with hesitant fuzzy linguistic information. Subsequently, it is applied to choose the optimal emergency alternative(s) for the prevention and control of COVID-19 on a college campus. The main innovations and contributions of this article are as follows: (a) Individual modified perceived utility (MPU) based on disappointment theory is integrated into the determination of attribute weights and construction of consensus reaching process (CRP). (b) The MPU-based individual contribution degree and the MPU-based soft group consensus degree are developed. (c) The new emergency CRP mechanism not only considers the rewards and penalties of expert weights but also regards the adaptive updating of attribute weights. Compared with the existing emergency MAGDM models in a hesitant fuzzy linguistic environment, the proposed consensus model has some advantages in improving consensus efficiency and simulating uncertain psychological behavior.

THE EXPERIENCE OF HAPPINESS IN LATE-LIFE REPARTNERING: SURPRISE AND DISAPPOINTMENT

Late life repartnering among those aged 65 and older is a phenomenon developing along with the increase in life expectancy. Although research indicates that older people are happier than adults at other life phases, the common lay person perception among the young as well as the old is that old age is associated with less happiness. Late life repartnering in Israel, culturally located between tradition and modernity, is not officially recognized as an option in old age. Exploring the experience of happiness within a social context that perceives late-life repartnering as the exception, using a naturalistic paradigm, has the potential for understanding lay persons perceptions of happiness. The aim of this qualitative research is to explore the experience of happiness in late-life repartnering relationships from a dyadic perspective of each and both partners. 20 couples (40 participants) functionally independent, aged 66-92 who entered their late-life repartnership at old age (men aged 65+; women aged 60+) after widowhood or divorce from a lifelong marriage raising a family, were interviewed separately. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed using a dyadic interview analysis method. Findings indicate that happiness in late-life repartnering relationships include experiences of surprise and disappointment in three sub-themes: a. “A gift from heaven”: Surprised of being happy; b. Disappointment not being happy; c. No surprise – No disappointment. Findings are discussed based on disappointment theory, and empirical literature on expectations and happiness. Implications are addressed.

THE EQUITY PREMIUM PUZZLE AND EMOTIONAL ASSET PRICING

Since the equity premium as well as the risk-free rate puzzle question the concepts central to financial and economic modeling, we apply behavioral decision theory to asset pricing in view of solving these puzzles. US stock market data for the period 1960–2003 and German stock market data for the period 1977–2003 show that emotional investors who act in accordance to Bell's [6] disappointment theory — a special case of prospect theory — and additionally administer mental accounts demand a high equity premium. Furthermore, these investors reason a low risk-free rate. However, Barberis et al. [5] already showed that limited rational investors demand a high equity premium. But as opposed to them, our approach additionally supports dividend smoothing.

Do Satisfied Customers Really Pay More? A Study of the Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Willingness to Pay

Two experimental studies (a lab experiment and a study involving a real usage experience over time) reveal the existence of a strong, positive impact of customer satisfaction on willingness to pay, and they provide support for a nonlinear, functional structure based on disappointment theory (i.e., an inverse S-shaped form). In addition, the second study examines dynamic aspects of the relationship and provides evidence for the stronger impact of cumulative satisfaction rather than of transaction-specific satisfaction on willingness to pay.