Identifying the Effects on Choices and Decision Making by Utilizing Framing of Options
This research survey, conducted in collaboration with two classmates, Ankita Mathur and Madi Vershum, served as the culminating project for PSYC 512 - Research Methods. We investigated the influence of framing options (gain vs. loss) on decision-making, inspired by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky's seminal work, "The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice." We hypothesized that individuals would exhibit greater risk aversion when presented with choices framed as gains and increased risk-taking behavior when facing loss-framed options, even when the actual outcomes remained identical.
We collaborated on writing the research plan and survey questionnaire and shared them with our family members, friends, and colleagues. We also synthesized the results, wrote the final paper, and presented it to the class.
Method and Materials
We administered our survey using Qualtrics and sent a URL link to the participants via Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS. Most participants were 25-34 years old, with bachelor's or master's degrees. The survey presented two scenarios similar to Kahneman and Tversky's Asian disease experiment. One scenario (gain-framed) offered a guaranteed profit on some units or a gamble for a larger profit. The other scenario (loss-framed) presented a guaranteed loss on some units or a gamble to avoid a larger loss. It's worth noting that slightly fewer participants responded to the second problem.
JASP was our preferred tool for data analysis. We used paired samples t-test and repeated measures ANOVA to capture the means of the groups and the statistical significance of the survey results.
Procedure
The survey has four sections: an introduction page, a participant information questionnaire, the main survey questionnaire, and a closing message. This replication experiment uses a within-subjects design with a single independent variable, the positive and negative framing of the options.
Results
We hypothesized that participants would pick the guaranteed gain (positive frame) over a probabilistic option and vice versa for losses. Based on the results, we learned that:
Participants leaned towards the option with a guaranteed outcome (positive or negative) compared to the probabilistic option.
Problem 2 (loss frame) showed a stronger preference (higher mean score) compared to Problem 1 (gain frame).
Statistical tests (paired samples t-test and repeated measures ANOVA) confirmed these findings with a high degree of significance (p-value < .001) and large effect sizes (Cohen's d = 0.79, eta squared = 0.39).
These results suggest that how information is presented (framed) can significantly impact decision-making, with people generally favoring guaranteed outcomes over probabilities, even when the expected value might be the same.