Post-decision consolidation and distortion of facts
Author
Summary, in English
Participants decided whom of two patients to prioritize for surgery in three studies. The factual quantitative information about the patients (e.g., probability of surviving surgery) was given in vignette form with case descriptions on Visual Analogue Scales - VAS's. Differentiation and Consolidation theory predicts that not only the attractiveness of facts but also the mental representations of objective facts themselves will be restructured in post-decision processes in support of a decision (Svenson, 2003). After the decision, participants were asked to reproduce the objective facts about the patients. The results showed that distortions of objective facts were used to consolidate a prior decision. The consolidation process relied on facts initially favoring the non-chosen alternative and on facts rated as less, rather than more important.
Department/s
Publishing year
2009
Language
English
Pages
397-407
Publication/Series
Judgment and Decision Making
Volume
4
Issue
5
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Society for Judgment and Decision Making
Topic
- Psychology
Keywords
- differentiation and consolidation
- coherence
- medical decisions
- cognitive psychology
- decision making
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1930-2975