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Action Bias
The impulse to act in order to gain a sense of control over a situation and eliminate a problem termed action bias (Patt & Zeckhauser, 2000).
Source: BehavioralEconomics.com
Affect Heuristic
Heuristic in which the emotion associated with a decision option impacts its likelihood of selection.
Source: BehavioralScienceLab.com
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The affect heuristic represents a reliance on good or bad feelings experienced in relation to a stimulus. Affect-based evaluations are quick, automatic, and rooted in experiential thought that is activated prior to reflective judgments (see dual-system theory) (Slovic et al., 2002). For example, experiential judgments are evident when people are influenced by risks framed in terms of counts (e.g. “of every 100 patients similar to Mr. Jones, 10 are estimated to commit an act of violence”) more than an abstract but equivalent probability frame (e.g. “Patients similar to Mr. Jones are estimated to have a 10% chance of committing an act of violence to others”) (Slovic et al., 2000).
Source: BehavioralEconomics.com
Altruism
According to neoclassical economics, rational beings do whatever they need to in order to maximize their own wealth. However, when people make sacrifices to benefit others without expecting a personal reward, they are thought to behave altruistically (Rushton, 1984). Common applications of this pro-social behavior include volunteering, philanthropy, and helping others in emergencies (Piliavin & Charng, 1990).
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Source: BehavioralEconomics.com
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Anchoring
Manipulation of choice options vis-à-vis a reference point (or option) so that their likelihood of selection is affected.
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Source: BehavioralScienceLab.com
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Anchoring is a particular form of priming effect whereby initial exposure to a number serves as a reference point and influences subsequent judgments.
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Source: BehavioralEconomics.com
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Ambiguity (Uncertainty) Aversion
Ambiguity aversion, or uncertainty aversion, is the tendency to favor the known over the unknown, including known risks over unknown risks. For example, when choosing between two bets, we are more likely to choose the bet for which we know the odds, even if the odds are poor, than the one for which we don’t know the odds.
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Source: BehavioralEconomics.com
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Asymmetrically Dominated Choice
Heightened likelihood of choice option selection by adding one or more unattractive choice options. (See Decoy Effect.)
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Source: BehavioralScienceLab.com
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Availability Bias
Change in the likelihood of a choice option related to the apparent availability of options and not related to the respondent’s own expectation of utility.
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Source: BehavioralScienceLab.com
Availability Heuristic
Decision shortcut in which the ability of the respondent to recall information about the choice options impacts their likelihood of selection.
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Source: BehavioralScienceLab.com
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Availability is a heuristic whereby people make judgments about the likelihood of an event based on how easily an example, instance, or case comes to mind.
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Source: BehavioralEconomics.com
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