Uma R Karmarkar, John A Clithero, Carolina Raffaelli
{"title":"Sequential information preferences in uncertain decision making.","authors":"Uma R Karmarkar, John A Clithero, Carolina Raffaelli","doi":"10.1037/xge0001941","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although decisions often appear instantaneous, they can unfold dynamically with sequential processing of different types of information. Prior research finds that the order of considering risks versus rewards in uncertain decisions can influence the perceived value of a financial prospect. However, it remains unclear which information people might choose to learn first for themselves. Across 11 preregistered experiments (<i>N</i> = 6,709 adult participants from in-person and online pools), we demonstrate that a majority of people prefer to consider risks before rewards. This preference is associated with individual sensitivity to economic ambiguity, but not a general need for structure. We further show that self-selected sequences are useful not only for predicting information-seeking behavior in financial and marketplace contexts but also for predicting downstream behavior in terms of choice process and choice outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":" ","pages":"1768-1783"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001941","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/5/14 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although decisions often appear instantaneous, they can unfold dynamically with sequential processing of different types of information. Prior research finds that the order of considering risks versus rewards in uncertain decisions can influence the perceived value of a financial prospect. However, it remains unclear which information people might choose to learn first for themselves. Across 11 preregistered experiments (N = 6,709 adult participants from in-person and online pools), we demonstrate that a majority of people prefer to consider risks before rewards. This preference is associated with individual sensitivity to economic ambiguity, but not a general need for structure. We further show that self-selected sequences are useful not only for predicting information-seeking behavior in financial and marketplace contexts but also for predicting downstream behavior in terms of choice process and choice outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Experimental Psychology: General publishes articles describing empirical work that bridges the traditional interests of two or more communities of psychology. The work may touch on issues dealt with in JEP: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, JEP: Human Perception and Performance, JEP: Animal Behavior Processes, or JEP: Applied, but may also concern issues in other subdisciplines of psychology, including social processes, developmental processes, psychopathology, neuroscience, or computational modeling. Articles in JEP: General may be longer than the usual journal publication if necessary, but shorter articles that bridge subdisciplines will also be considered.
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