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I know why you voted for Trump: (Over)inferring motives based on choice.
- Source :
-
Cognition . Jul2019, Vol. 188, p85-97. 13p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- People often speculate about why others make the choices they do. This paper investigates how such inferences are formed as a function of what is chosen. Specifically, when observers encounter someone else's choice (e.g., of political candidate), they use the chosen option's attribute values (e.g., a candidate's specific stance on a policy issue) to infer the importance of that attribute (e.g., the policy issue) to the decision-maker. Consequently, when a chosen option has an attribute whose value is extreme (e.g., an extreme policy stance), observers infer-sometimes incorrectly-that this attribute disproportionately motivated the decision-maker's choice. Seven studies demonstrate how observers use an attribute's value to infer its weight-the value-weight heuristic-and identify the role of perceived diagnosticity: more extreme attribute values give observers the subjective sense that they know more about a decision-maker's preferences, and in turn, increase the attribute's perceived importance. The paper explores how this heuristic can produce erroneous inferences and influence broader beliefs about decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00100277
- Volume :
- 188
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Cognition
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 136390847
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.05.004