Abstract

In the risky-choice framing effect, different wording of the same options leads to predictably different choices. In a large-scale survey conducted from March to May 2020 and including 88,181 participants from 47 countries, we investigated how stress, concerns, and trust moderated the effect in the Disease problem, a prominent framing problem highly evocative of the COVID-19 pandemic. As predicted by the appraisal-tendency framework, risk aversion and the framing effect in our study were larger than under typical circumstances. Furthermore, perceived stress and concerns over coronavirus were positively associated with the framing effect. Contrary to predictions, however, they were not related to risk aversion. Trust in the government's efforts to handle the coronavirus was associated with neither risk aversion nor the framing effect. The proportion of risky choices and the framing effect varied substantially across nations. Additional exploratory analyses showed that the framing effect was unrelated to reported compliance with safety measures, suggesting, along with similar findings during the pandemic and beyond, that the effectiveness of framing manipulations in public messages might be limited. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, along with directions for further investigations.

Highlights

  • Since findings accounted for by cultural differences are consistent with GDP differences [36], we explored whether GDP per capita would be associated with risk preferences on the Disease problem (DP), to findings using monetary outcomes

  • Higher stress and concerns were selectively associated with the framing effect but not necessarily with the proportion of safe choices in the Disease Problem

  • This evidence partially supports and challenges the appraisal-tendency framework in ways that need to be addressed in future research

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Summary

Objectives

We aimed to test ATF’s predictions using the DP in two ways

Methods
Results
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Conclusion
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