Abstract
Much research has shown that cognitive processes are largely guided by individuals' states of mind (Mancini & Gangemi, 2002a, in press; Smeets, de Jong, & Mayer, 2000). In this paper, we specifically consider a state of mind characterized by guilt for having acted irresponsibly. This state is currently considered the breeding ground for the obsessive–compulsive disorder (Rachman, 2002; Salkovskis & Forrester, 2002). Our aim is to examine the impact of this state of mind on decision under risk. We hypothesize that individuals' choices (risk seeking/risk aversion) depend on how they evaluate themselves, as guilty or as victims of a wrong, and thus on moral values. People who evaluate them-selves as guilty are expected to show a risk-averse preference. People who evaluate themselves as victims are expected to show a risk-seeking preference. In two different experiments, we demonstrated that non-clinical participants' aversion to risky choices and preference for risky choices vary as a function of their moral role (guilty/victim). As predicted, in both the experiments, participants experienced intolerance for risk, making more riskless choices, in the context of guilt. Thus, aversion to risk-taking is actually affected by a mental state of guilt. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Links
- https://apc.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2004_aversion%20to%20risk%20and%20guil[...]
- doi:10.1002/cpp.418
BibTeX (Download)
@article{CPP:CPP418,
title = {Aversion to risk and guilt},
author = {Francesco Mancini and Amelia Gangemi},
editor = {John Wiley & Sons},
url = {https://apc.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2004_aversion%20to%20risk%20and%20guilt.pdf},
doi = {10.1002/cpp.418},
issn = {1099-0879},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-01-01},
journal = {Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy},
volume = {11},
number = {3},
pages = {199--206},
publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.},
abstract = {Much research has shown that cognitive processes are largely guided by individuals' states of mind (Mancini & Gangemi, 2002a, in press; Smeets, de Jong, & Mayer, 2000). In this paper, we specifically consider a state of mind characterized by guilt for having acted irresponsibly. This state is currently considered the breeding ground for the obsessive–compulsive disorder (Rachman, 2002; Salkovskis & Forrester, 2002). Our aim is to examine the impact of this state of mind on decision under risk. We hypothesize that individuals' choices (risk seeking/risk aversion) depend on how they evaluate themselves, as guilty or as victims of a wrong, and thus on moral values. People who evaluate them-selves as guilty are expected to show a risk-averse preference. People who evaluate themselves as victims are expected to show a risk-seeking preference. In two different experiments, we demonstrated that non-clinical participants' aversion to risky choices and preference for risky choices vary as a function of their moral role (guilty/victim). As predicted, in both the experiments, participants experienced intolerance for risk, making more riskless choices, in the context of guilt. Thus, aversion to risk-taking is actually affected by a mental state of guilt. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.},
keywords = {aversion to risk, guilt},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
