title: The Elasticity of Preferences.
abstract: We explore how preferences for attributes are constructed when people choose between multiattribute options. As found in prior research, we observed that while people make decisions, their preferences for the attributes in question shift to support the emerging choice, thus enabling confident decisions. The novelty of the studies reported here is that participants repeated the same task 6 to 8 weeks later. We found that between tasks, preferences returned to near their original levels, only to shift again to support the second choice, regardless of which choice participants made. Similar patterns were observed in a free-choice task (Study 1) and when the favorableness of options was manipulated (Study 2). It follows that preferences behave in an elastic manner: In the absence of situational pressures, they rest at baseline levels, but during the process of reaching a decision, they morph to support the chosen options. This elasticity appears to facilitate confident decision making in the face of decisional conflict.
authors.affiliation: 1 Gould School of Law, University of Southern California.|2 Department of Psychology, University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: 3 Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Spiller
mesh_terms: D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D019336:Cognitive Science / Q000379:methods; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D060685:Sense of Coherence / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: cognitive-consistency theories; coherence effect; coherence-based reasoning; constructed preferences; decision making; elasticity; open data; open materials