The disgust-promotes-disposal effect |
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Authors: | Seunghee Han Jennifer S Lerner Richard Zeckhauser |
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Institution: | (1) Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea;(2) Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA;(3) John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA |
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Abstract: | Individuals tend toward status quo bias: preferring existing options over new ones. There is a countervailing phenomenon:
Humans naturally dispose of objects that disgust them, such as foul-smelling food. But what if the source of disgust is independent
of the object? We induced disgust via a film clip to see if participants would trade away an item (a box of unidentified office
supplies) for a new item (alternative unidentified box). Such “incidental disgust” strongly countered status quo bias. Disgusted
people exchanged their present possession 51% of the time compared to 32% for people in a neutral state. Thus, disgust promotes
disposal. A second experiment tested whether a warning about this tendency would diminish it. It did not. These results indicate
a robust disgust-promotes-disposal effect. Because these studies presented real choices with tangible rewards, their findings
have implications for everyday choices and raise caution about the effectiveness of warnings about biases. |
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Keywords: | |
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