Description-experience gap in choice under risk: Are emotions involved?

Choices made under risk appear to differ depending on whether the decision problem is presented as an explicit description or experienced by subjects through a series of choices and outcomes. The difference, labeled the description-experience gap (DEG), has attracted a fair amount of attention and generated a substantial body of research. Alongside important insights gained, noticeably (and puzzlingly) absent from this literature are emotions – a feature more pertinent to actual experience than to mere description of events, thus potentially a source of difference in decisions observed in these two conditions. Even though emotions are considered a hallmark of experience, existing studies concerned with various aspects of DEG do not seem to address this facet of the question. This paper suggests the possibility that emotions comprise an important factor contributing to DEG. Theoretical considerations and relevant empirical evidence of decision-making guided by emotions are reviewed to support the proposed hypothesis. General perspective, directions for future research, and possible caveats are discussed.