Loss Sensitivity and Integration of Outcomes of Concurrent Risky Decisions

Problem statement: Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that the loss-sensitivity principle extends to integration of the outcomes of two concurrent risky decisions. Purpose of Study: According to this principle, only expected loss outcomes of concurrent decisions would be integrated. Method: A total of 96 undergraduates participated in two experiments. Findings and Results: The results of Experiment 1 showed consistent with the loss sensitivity principle that a prior outcome was integrated with the expected loss outcome of a current decision. However, there was no evidence for integration of the expected loss outcomes of two concurrent decisions. A possible explanation implying that outcomes are ignored if they have not yet occurred was followed up in Experiment 2 where participants were offered bonuses to increase their sensitivity either to gains or losses. An effect of bonus was observed but again there was no evidence for integration of the outcomes of concurrent decisions. Conclusion: Although confirmed in several previous experiments when choices were made between mixed bets with both gain and loss outcomes, whether the loss-sensitivity principle extends to integration of prior outcomes when choices are made between losses or between gains was also questioned by the results.