Making Low Probabilities Useful |
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Authors: | Kunreuther Howard Novemsky Nathan Kahneman Daniel |
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Institution: | (1) OPIM Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA;(2) School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, CT;(3) Department of Psychology and Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ |
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Abstract: | This paper explores how people process information on low probability-high consequence negative events and what it will take to get individuals to be sensitive to the likelihood of these types of accidents or disasters. In a set of experiments, information is presented to individuals on the likelihood of serious accidents from a chemical facility. Comparisons are made with other risks, such as fatalities from automobile accidents, to see whether laypersons can determine the relative safety of different plants. We conclude that fairly rich context information must be available for people to be able to judge differences between low probabilities. In particular, it appears that one needs to present comparison scenarios that are located on the probability scale to evoke people's own feelings of risk. The concept of evaluability recently introduced by Hsee and his colleagues provides a useful explanation of these findings. |
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Keywords: | low probabilities insurance field experiment |
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