Goal
This study investigates group decision making and compares it to individual decision making. Studies of individual decision making have revealed now classic results, including the status quo bias and framing effects. Many decisions, however, are made by groups rather than individuals. Group decisions may differ systematically from individual decisions in terms of outcomes and/or processes. For example, individuals tend to be more risk averse when decisions are framed in terms of gains, rather than losses. We will investigate whether this tendency holds for group decisions, whether an individual in a group will spontaneously reframe the decision, and the effect of presenting different group members with different frames of the same decision. We examine 4 types of representation or framing effect in individual climate-related decisions (i) reference point effects, (ii) status quo effects, (iii) time horizon effects, (iv) budget effects. The magnitude of the effects will be compared for individuals and groups of up to 4 persons.

Background
Many important climate-related decisions, including those related to human health, livestock health, wild game and fish stocks, water allocation and reservoir management, and local, national, regional or global investment programs for dealing with climate effects are made in part through group processes. It is important to understand the extent to which various framing effects are reduced or enhanced by group processes. Consideration of this question leads us to bring the extensive literature on group problem-solving to bear on decision making.

Research Questions
Are framing and status quo effects found in research on individual decisions reduced in group decisions?

To what extent do personality attributes, such as need for closure or social desirability, and group characteristics, such as cohesiveness and size, affect both decision processes and outcomes?

Do group members make references to self versus group, do they utilize the provided frame versus alternate frame, do they support their own position versus derogation of other's position?

Related Projects
Following is a sub-project conducted as part of the Mental Representation project.

» Framing and Group Decision Making

Last Updated: June 1, 2006