Preference Asymmetry Research Articles

Failing to give the gift of improvement: When and why givers withhold self-improvement gifts

When gift giving, consumers often avoid giving self-improvement products—products designed to help individuals improve a specific skill or an aspect of themselves. However, recipients may have different preferences for such gifts. Across seven studies, I demonstrate that consumers give self-improvement products less often than recipients would like because givers overestimate the degree to which such gifts convey criticism. I further demonstrate that this preference asymmetry is diminished when the gift suggests improvement in a non-fundamental identity domain or when the giver knows that the recipient has adopted a goal to improve themself in the same domain that the gift suggests improvement. The present research contributes to the gift giving literature by illustrating a unique mismatch between givers’ and recipients’ gift preferences and examining its boundary conditions. The findings presented here provide guidance for retailers who sell self-improvement products and for consumers who aim to give good gifts.

Preferences and perceptions in Provision and Maintenance public goods

We study two generic versions of public goods problems: in Provision problems, the public good does not exist initially and needs to be provided; in Maintenance problems, the public good already exists and needs to be maintained. In four lab and online experiments (n=2,105), we document a robust asymmetry in preferences and perceptions in two incentive-equivalent versions of these public good problems. We find fewer conditional cooperators and more free riders in Maintenance than Provision, a difference that is replicable, stable, and reflected in perceptions of kindness. Incentivized control questions administered before gameplay reveal dilemma-specific misperceptions but controlling for them neither eliminates game-dependent conditional cooperation, nor differences in perceived kindness of others' cooperation. Thus, even when sharing the same game form, Maintenance and Provision are different social dilemmas that require separate behavioral analyses.

Givers eschew gifts that are inferior to their own: How social norms, regulatory focus, and concerns about offending lead givers astray

AbstractWe explore gift givers' and gift recipients' preferences concerning gifts that compare unfavorably to givers' own products. Across eight studies, we demonstrate that givers refrain from giving gifts that compare unfavorably to their own possessions more often than recipients prefer. This effect emerges because givers are more prevention‐focused (less promotion‐focused) than recipients and wish to avoid offending recipients by violating a corresponding social norm that our results suggest is of less concern to those receiving their gift. We find evidence for this two‐stage process through both mediation and moderation. This research adds to the gift giving literature by examining a new type of gifting decision, documenting a novel giver–recipient preference asymmetry, and shedding light on the roles that social norms, regulatory focus, and offensiveness play in gift giving.

The effect of art expertise on visual symmetry and asymmetry preference

The main differences between artists and non-artists can be discovered in information processing, drawing performance and aesthetical preferences. Aesthetical preference is influenced by stimulus complexity and by the symmetry-asymmetry dimension of the presented stimulus. Although the differences between artists and non-artists are clear regarding aesthetical evaluation, there are evidence supporting the assumption that symmetry is preferred over asymmetry regardless of domain specific knowledge. In the current study we investigated the role of expertise in visual art on aesthetical evaluation of symmetrical and asymmetrical, simple, and complex geometrical forms, using visual stimuli based on Jacobsen and Höfel (2001). Participants from art high- school and university have been gathered (N = 56) and were distributed into three separate groups by their visual art and art history experience (experts, novice, and medium experience). Our main result shows a significant effect of experience in visual art on aesthetical preference, participants in the expert group preferred complex asymmetrical stimuli more compared to participants in art novice group. Asymmetrical simple and complex forms were aesthetically preferred more by expert group than the two other groups. We also found that symmetrical forms are preferred over asymmetrical ones regardless of level of expertise in art, however preference of art experts tends to be more unified over stimulus complexity. Our results are in line with results from previous studies regarding symmetry- asymmetry preference. We can conclude that beside the general preference for symmetrical forms, experience in art alters asymmetry preference and it regulates the preference over simple- complex symmetrical and asymmetrical stimuli.

The Role of Stimuli Complexity and Handedness on Visual Symmetry and Asymmetry Preference

Previous research results indicate visual information processing asymmetry in case of visual verbal stimuli. However, other studies that investigate nonverbal stimuli processing show inconsistent effect of laterality. Although differences between left- and right-handers can be found in tasks that involve letters, spatial attention stimuli and visuomotor control performance, the differences between the two groups almost disappear in several directional preference tasks, suggesting that direction preference is influenced mainly by writing and reading habits. Perceiving visual art involves visual attention, that is driven by the bottom-up aspects of the visual stimuli, therefore perception of nonverbal images, that contain geometrical forms might be influenced by handedness. To assess the possible differences in visual symmetry- asymmetry preference, university students (N = 65) were divided into two groups based on handedness, and as a measurement we used simple- complex- symmetrical and asymmetrical geometrical forms. Our main result shows a significant effect of stimuli complexity on symmetry-asymmetry preference. The interaction effect between handedness and symmetry-asymmetry type was not significant. After conducting a pairwise comparison our results show that right-handers evaluate simple and complex symmetrical forms as more preferable than simple and complex asymmetrical forms. We also found that there is a preference for symmetry over asymmetry in both groups, however these differences are significant only in the right-handed group. We conclude that preference for symmetrical geometrical forms is not influenced by handedness, however preference for complexity is affected by right-handedness. To extend these results, further investigations are needed.

Asymmetry in forex market intervention: Does it reflect fear of reserve inadequacy?

The stylised facts indicate that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added significant amount of reserves to its kitty although there was a persistent pressure on rupee to depreciate in the aftermath of global financial meltdown that surfaced in the year 2008. We probe this issue by estimating an intervention policy reaction function, based on the theoretical framework of Surico (2003) and Srinivasan et al. (2009), that captures the preference asymmetry in official intervention. The time varying estimates of the intervention function suggest that the official response to rupee appreciation is significantly larger than to rupee depreciation of the same magnitude, especially during the post financial crises period. Such preference asymmetry in intervention seems to have been driven by the urge to maintain the level of reserve at an optimal level dictated by certain reserve adequacy metrics. Therefore, the asymmetry in official intervention, especially when the quantum of reserve holding is less than or closure to certain minimum critical level, essentially reflects the ‘fear of reserve inadequacy’ rather than the ‘fear of currency appreciation’ as it is claimed by earlier studies.

Lateral Preference and Inter-limb Asymmetry in Completing Technical Tasks During Official Professional Futsal Matches: The Role of Playing Position and Opponent Quality

This study had the purpose of analyzing dominant and non-dominant limb performances (frequency of use and accuracy) during match-play technical actions with ball possession (receiving, passing, and shooting a ball) in professional futsal and also check for the possible influence of playing position and the quality of opponent. We have analyzed data pertaining to eight matches of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012™ in which 76 male professional senior futsal players participated (44 right-footed and 32 left-footed). In total, we coded 5,856 actions (2,550 ball receptions, 3,076 passes, and 230 shoots). Our main findings were that (a) players used the dominant limb more frequently than the non-dominant limb for all actions considered [p < 0.001; effect size (ES) medium-to-large]; (b) accuracy was generally greater when using the dominant limb, regardless of the quality of opponent (p < 0.01; ES large); and (c) in shooting actions, pivots showed similar accuracy between dominant and non-dominant limbs (p = 0.51; ES small). The study suggested that when completing technical actions with the ball in futsal, high-level players depended to a greater extent on the use of their dominant lower limb during official matches. Excepting a similarity detected between limbs on shooting performance of pivots, players from all positional roles generally showed a higher accuracy rate in receiving, passing, and shooting a ball when using their dominant limb as compared to their non-dominant one during match-play and the limb usage and accuracy seemed to be independent of the quality of opponents.

Two Investors, Two Trees, Two Goods

I characterize the global solution to the portfolio problem of two heterogeneous investors with general preferences, in a two-tree, two-good environment. Investors have recursive preferences and a bias in consumption towards a preferred good. The framework highlights the role of the allocation of wealth across investors for portfolios, asset prices, and risk sharing, an aspect that had received little emphasis in such a setting. The influence of the allocation of wealth grows especially as markets become imperfectly integrated, and as investor heterogeneity rises -- be it through a larger bias in consumption, the introduction of labor income, or asymmetries in preferences -- to the point where it can match or surpass the impact of fundamentals. The framework lends itself to several applications and extensions, e.g. in international or environmental contexts.

Asymmetries and the Market for Put Options

We study implications of asymmetries in both preferences and fundamentals for put option demand across investors and the resulting market behavior. A heterogenous-agent model populated by investors with asymmetric preferences alongside standard risk-averse agents rationalizes the size and the dynamics of the put option market, the expensiveness of put options, and the link between put option demand and the stock market in equilibrium. Disappointment-averse investors take long positions in put options, but only if their reference point is lower than the certainty equivalent. In the cross-section of options with multiple strikes, disappointment-averse investors’ open interest peaks for the at-the-money contracts.

The effects of density dependence and habitat preference on species coexistence and relative abundance.

In plant communities, some mechanisms maintain differences in species' abundances, while other mechanisms promote coexistence. Asymmetry in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) and/or habitat preference is hypothesized to shape relative species abundance, whereas community compensatory trends (CCTs) induced by community-level CNDD and heterospecific facilitation are hypothesized to promote coexistence. We use survey data from three 1-ha permanent dynamic plots in a subtropical forest over the course of a decade to find out which of these processes are important and at which life-history stages (the seedling, sapling, and juvenile stages) they exert their effects. CNDD was not related to abundance in any of the life-history stages. Suitable habitats positively influenced plant abundance at all tested life stages, but especially so for juveniles. Community-level CNDD of seedling neighbors was detected at the seedling stage, while heterospecific facilitation was detected across all tested life-history stages. A CCT in seedling survival was detected, but there was no evidence for such trends across the other life-history stages. Altogether, our results suggest that habitat specificity increases the rarity of species, whereas a CCT at the seedling stage, which is likely to be induced by CNDD and heterospecific facilitation, enables such species to maintain their populations.

Asymmetry in host plant preferences of two ecotypes of Boloria eunomia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

The diversity and evolution of host-plant relationships of butterflies has been the subject of much research. In this context, an interesting species is the bog fritillary Boloria eunomia. Across its boreo-montane distribution there are several ecotypes of this butterfly (sometimes distinguished as subspecies), which inhabit distinctly different habitats. However, little is known about the relationships between these forms in terms of host-plant use. We compared larval preferences of two ecotypes in north-eastern Poland, a unique region that is inhabited by different evolutionary lineages of B. eunomia. Larvae of the meadow ecotype reared in captivity were able to grow and develop exclusively on Persicaria bistorta, i.e., their 'native' host plant. In contrast, larvae originating from populations inhabiting raised bogs generally showed poorer survival, though they accepted both Ericaceae species growing in their biotope and P. bistorta, a plant that does not occur in their biotope. They did not show clear food preferences, but mortality was lowest when they were fed Vaccinium uliginosum. This is puzzling as field observations indicate that Vaccinium oxycoccus is the main host plant in the area studied. However, our findings are consistent with the results of phylogeographical studies indicating that meadows were the ancestral habitats of B. eunomia and some populations adapted later to different biotopes. The poor survival of larvae of the bog ecotype recorded in the present study may indicate that this form is at least locally potentially more vulnerable than the other ecotype.

Hemispheric asymmetry in hand preference of right-handers for passive vibrotactile perception: an fNIRS study

Hemispheric asymmetry in hand preference for passive cutaneous perception compared to active haptic perception is not well known. A functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used to evaluate the laterality of cortical facilitation when 31 normal right-handed participants were involved in 205 Hz passive vibrotactile cutaneous stimuli on their index fingers of preferred and less-preferred hand. Passive cutaneous perception resulted that preferred (right) hand stimulation was strongly leftward lateralized, whereas less-preferred (left) hand stimulation was less lateralized. This confirms that other manual haptic exploration studies described a higher hemispheric asymmetry in right-handers. Stronger cortical facilitation was found in the right primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and right somatosensory association area (SA) during left-hand stimulation but not right-hand stimulation. This finding suggests that the asymmetric activation in the S1 and SA for less-preferred (left) hand stimulation might contribute to considerably reinforce sensorimotor network just with passive vibrotactile cutaneous stimulation.

Step time asymmetry but not step length asymmetry is adapted to optimize energy cost of split‐belt treadmill walking

The relationship between spatiotemporal gait asymmetry and walking energetics is currently under debate. The split-belt treadmill paradigm has been used to study adaptation of spatiotemporal gait parameters in relation to energetics, but it remains unclear why people reduce asymmetry in step lengths, but prefer asymmetry in step times. In this study we characterized the effects of step time asymmetry and step length asymmetry on energy cost during steady-state walking on a split-belt treadmill at increasing speed-differences. Both the optimal and preferred step time asymmetry increased with greater speed differences, while preferred step lengths remained constant and nearly symmetric. Preferred asymmetric step times were energetically optimal across all speed-difference conditions, while preferred step length asymmetry was not optimal. The findings show that humans will adopt an asymmetric gait that is associated with an energy reduction and suggest that step time asymmetry plays a dominant role in shaping the energetic cost of gait asymmetry. Healthy human walking is symmetric and economical; hemiparetic and amputee gait is often asymmetric and requires more energy. Consequently, asymmetry has been attributed to account for the added energy cost of pathological gait. But it is also possible that asymmetric gait may be adopted if it is energetically optimal under certain biomechanical and neurological constraints of the locomotor system. Here, we assessed how preferred asymmetry in step times and step lengths of healthy human gait is adapted during split-belt treadmill walking and tested the hypothesis that asymmetry is adapted to optimize metabolic energy cost. Ten healthy, young participants walked on a split-belt treadmill in three conditions in which the average belt speed was always 1.25 m s-1 and the speed difference between the belts was 0.5 m s-1 , 1.0 m s-1 and 1.5 m s-1 while a range of values of step time asymmetry and step length asymmetry were enforced. We found that preferred step time asymmetry increased with greater speed differences while preferred step length asymmetry remained constant and nearly symmetric. With increasing speed differences participants increased their preferred value of step time asymmetry to coincide with the lowest energy cost. However, our results show that preferred step length asymmetry was not optimal even with extensive experience of split-belt treadmill walking. Overall, our results indicate that humans will adopt an asymmetric gait that is associated with an energy reduction and suggest that step time asymmetry plays a dominant role in shaping the energetic cost of gait asymmetry.

Impatience and Savoring vs. Dread: Asymmetries in Anticipation Explain Consumer Time Preferences for Positive vs. Negative Events

For positive experiences (e.g., when to eat a snack), consumers generally prefer to have them immediately, and for negative experiences (e.g., when to pay a bill), consumers often prefer to delay. Yet, across three studies (plus twelve supplemental studies) we find that anticipatory feelings push in the opposite direction, and do so differently for positive vs. negative events, leading to different time preferences: The desire for immediate positives is stronger than the desire to delay negatives. For negative events, anticipatory utility is strongly negative, reducing the desire to delay bad things (i.e., consumers want to “get it over with” to minimize the psychological discomfort), but for positive events, overall anticipatory utility is weakly positive, and therefore does little to reduce consumers’ desire to expedite good things. This anticipatory asymmetry happens because when consumers think about a future positive event, they both enjoy imagining it (savoring) while simultaneously disliking the feeling of waiting for it (impatience), but when consumers think about a negative event, they both dislike imagining it (dread) and dislike the feeling of waiting for it. We demonstrate the managerial implications of these findings in a pair of field studies using online advertisements for retirement planning.

Single-particle analysis of urea amidolyase reveals its molecular mechanism.

Urea amidolyase (UA), a bifunctional enzyme that is widely distributed in bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants, plays a pivotal role in the recycling of nitrogen in the biosphere. Its substrate urea is ultimately converted to ammonium, via successive catalysis at the C-terminal urea carboxylase (UC) domain and followed by the N-terminal allophanate hydrolyse (AH) domain. Although our previous studies have shown that Kluyveromyces lactis UA (KlUA) functions efficiently as a homodimer, the architecture of the full-length enzyme remains unresolved. Thus how the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) domain is transferred within the UC domain remains unclear. Here we report the structures of full-length KlUA in its homodimer form in three different functional states by negatively-stained single-particle electron microscopy. We report here that the ADP-bound structure with or without urea shows two possible locations of BCCP with preferred asymmetry, and that when BCCP is attached to the carboxyl transferase domain of one monomer, it is attached to the biotin carboxylase domain in the second domain. Based on this observation, we propose a BCCP-swinging model for biotin-dependent carboxylation mechanism of this enzyme.

Estimating the term structure of commodity market preferences

The commodity futures curve is viewed as a market-based path forecast, a term structure, optimizing multivariate loss preferences. Based on the forecast decision setting, we apply estimation of flexible multivariate loss functions, which reveal the preference term structure along the futures curve, which can be flat, smoothly sloping or oscillating, rotating among optimism, pessimism and symmetry. Evidence from the thirty main world commodities around the global crisis period, accommodates the futures curve forecast rationality questioned in the literature, suggesting the presence of joint preference asymmetries for longer maturities and symmetries for shorter ones. This reveals joint optimistic preferences for most commodities until 2004, evolving into oscillating preferences rotating within the term structure from symmetry to pessimism and optimism in 2005–2008 and finally back to weaker optimism until 2013.

Strategic implications of counter-geoengineering: Clash or cooperation?

Solar geoengineering has received increasing attention as an option to temporarily stabilize global temperatures. A key concern is that heterogeneous preferences over the optimal amount of cooling combined with low deployment costs may allow the country with the strongest incentive for cooling, the so-called free-driver, to impose a substantial externality on the rest of the world. We analyze whether the threat of counter-geoengineering technologies capable of negating the climatic effects of solar geoengineering can overcome the free-driver problem and tilt the game in favour of international cooperation. Our game-theoretical model of countries with asymmetric preferences allows for a rigorous analysis of the strategic interaction surrounding solar geoengineering and counter-geoengineering. We find that counter-geoengineering prevents the free-driver outcome, but not always with benign effects. The presence of counter-geoengineering leads to either a climate clash where countries engage in a non-cooperative escalation of opposing climate interventions (negative welfare effect), a moratorium treaty where countries commit to abstain from either type of climate intervention (indeterminate welfare effect), or cooperative deployment of solar geoengineering (positive welfare effect). We show that the outcome depends crucially on the degree of asymmetry in temperature preferences between countries.

Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on social competence: Asymmetry in play partner preference among heterogeneous triads of male and female rats.

Social behavior deficits associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) are frequently described in terms of impaired social competence, which can be defined as the effectiveness in social interaction and the ability to employ social skills successfully within different interpersonal contexts. Play behavior-which peaks during adolescence-is critical for developing social competence, as well as for motor, cognitive, and emotional development. Studies of play behavior typically utilize protocols where animals interact in dyads. However, less is understood about how the social environment may shape PAE-related social behavior deficits, particularly in more complex social contexts. Here, we assess play partner preference utilizing a novel approach in which adolescent male and female animals interact within same-sex triads comprised of animals from mixed prenatal treatments to determine how play partner identity and social group composition interact to shape behavior. When triads included one PAE animal and two control animals (i.e., control animals had the option to play either with a fellow control or a PAE playmate), we observed play target asymmetry whereby controls preferentially played with fellow controls. Notably, these results were consistent for triads of both males and females, with subtle differences in frequency of initiations versus reciprocations. We found no play target asymmetry, however, when triads included two PAE animals and one control animal or different configurations of control and pair-fed animals. Taken together, play target asymmetry resulting from ineffective social interactions, including a failure to engage with, respond to, and/or solicit play from control play partners appropriately, suggests that PAE negatively impacts the development of social competence.

Race, Gender, and Social Exchange in Young Adult Unions

Social scientists often conceptualize romantic partner selection as an asymmetric exchange in which partners of different race or gender offer different desired qualities. For example, white women might leverage racial status into upward mobility by marrying socioeconomically advantaged minority men, or minority women might exchange beauty, sexual access, and domestic services for white men’s higher racial status and income. However, such approaches frequently assume gender and race asymmetry in preferences—for example, that men attach greater value to potential partners’ physical attractiveness than women do. These assumptions may be unwarranted, especially among contemporary young couples. In turn, assuming asymmetry in exchange can generate misleading results if partnering patterns are actually symmetric. Accordingly, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), including a supplementary sample of romantic partners, to reconsider recent findings with an emphasis on evaluating (a)symmetry.

FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE AND IRRATIONALITY IN THE INDIVIDUAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how financial knowledge influences irrationality in the individual financial decisions. Following the prospect theory, we considered two bias to identify the irrationality level: risk preference asymmetry (APR) and the weighted probability (PW). Considering a sample of undergraduate students, we found evidence that financial knowledge doesn’‘t rationalize individual financial decisions (emotional bias). Keywords Behavioral Finance. Financial Knowledge. Financial Literacy.