Abstract
This study explores the influence of different social reference points and different comparison group sizes on risky decision-making. Participants were presented with a scenario describing an exam, and presented with the opportunity of making a risky decision in the context of different information provided about the performance of their peers. We found that behavior was influenced, not only by comparison with peers, but also by the size of the comparison group. Specifically, the larger the reference group, the more polarized the behavior it prompted. In situations describing social loss, participants were led to make riskier decisions after comparing themselves against larger groups, while in situations describing social gain, they become more risk averse. These results indicate that decision making is influenced both by social comparison and the number of people making up the social reference group.
Highlights
Since ancient times, people have been concerned about their own income and about the income of others
The results showed a significant effect of Social Reference Points (SRP) level, F(2,273) = 5.629, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.041: participants in the H-SRP condition were more risk-seeking than those given the M-SRP or L-SRP
In the H-SRP condition, the scenario was more likely to be defined as a failure for class comparisons and school comparisons than for comparisons involving a single other
Summary
People have been concerned about their own income and about the income of others. The information gleaned from such comparisons is relied upon to evaluate their ability and status
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