Manipulating Reference States: the Effect of Attitudes on Utility

Astrid Matthey

No 2008-044, Jena Economics Research Papers from Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena

Abstract: In economic theory, utility depends on past, present and future outcomes. The experiment described in this paper suggests that utility also depends on people's attitudes, and that it can easily be manipulated through these attitudes. The results imply, ?rst, that purely outcome-based models of individual utility may be incomplete. Second, that reference-states are not determined completely endogenously but can be influenced from outside. And third, that experiments in economics may be sensitive to subtle details of the experimental design.

Keywords: utility; reference state; attitudes; priming; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D01 D10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-05-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp, nep-hpe and nep-upt
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2008-044

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