Risky-Choice Framing Effects Result Partly From Mismatched Option Descriptions in Gains and Losses
研究发现，风险选择框架效应的大小取决于选项描述是否在得失框架间匹配；即使平衡设计后仍有显著效应，说明该效应部分源于描述不匹配，而非完全由前景理论解释。
Textbook psychology holds that people usually prefer a certain option over a risky one when options are framed as gains but prefer the opposite when options are framed as losses. However, this pattern can be amplified, eliminated, or reversed depending on whether option descriptions include only positive information (e.g., “200 people will be saved”), only negative information (e.g., “400 people will not be saved”), or both. Previous studies suggest that framing effects arise only when option descriptions are mismatched across frames. Using online and student samples ( Ns = 906 and 521), we investigated 81 framing-effect variants created from matched and mismatched pairs of 18 option descriptions (nine in each frame). Description valence or gist explained substantial variation in risk preferences (prospect theory does not predict such variation), but a considerable framing effect remained in our balanced design. Risky-choice framing effects appear to be partly—but not completely—the result of mismatched comparisons.