Affect heuristics

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The affect heuristic is a judgment heuristic that relies on feelings . Opinions and decisions are often based simply on liking or dislike of the alternative. The feelings arise automatically and quickly and do not have to be felt consciously. The feelings felt are often divided into “good” and “bad”. If this attitude is then consciously thought about, the original attitude is usually not criticized, but rationalized .

"The search for information and arguments is largely limited to those who agree with existing opinion, not with the intention of questioning them."

- Daniel Kahneman : Thinking, fast and slow

(see confirmation errors ). The term and the basic research are from Paul Slovic .

example

Slovic's working group examined attitudes towards various technologies, including the fluoridation of drinking water, chemical plants, food preservatives and automobiles. Participants should list the benefits and risks of the technologies. There was a high (negative) association : Those who listed many advantages found few risks; many risks came with few benefits. In this way, the study participants avoided cognitive dissonance .

Then the participants received short texts with arguments why the technologies were advantageous. Half of the group received texts that emphasized the numerous advantages of a technology; the other half of the participants received texts that highlighted their low risks. Amazingly, the first group subsequently also changed their risk assessment; the second group also rated the advantages higher, although neither group had received any relevant information.

literature

  • P. Slovic, ML Finucane, E. Peters, DG MacGregor: The affect heuristic ( Memento of June 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) In: T. Gilovich , D. Griffin, D. Kahneman (eds.): Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment . Cambridge University Press, New York 2002, pp. 397-420.
  • ML Finucane et al .: The Affect Heuristic in Judgments of Risks and Benefits . In: Journal of Behavioral Decision Making , 13, 2000, pp. 1-17

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniel Kahneman : Thinking, fast and slow . Allen Lane Paperback, ISBN 978-1-84614-606-0 , p. 103
  2. ^ Daniel Kahneman : Thinking, fast and slow . Allen Lane Paperback, ISBN 978-1-84614-606-0 , pp. 139 f.