The Impact Of Emotion And Time Pressure On Preference Reversal

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the impact of emotion and time pressure on preference reversal phenomenon. We add a long shot bet besides the classical preference reversal experiment. What's more, two new variables—emotion and time pressure—have been introduced into this experiment to test whether they have influence on preference reversal. The followings are the results of this research. First of all, in most selection task, whether it's the H-S bet, H-L bet or S-L bet, subjects were more inclined to high probability & low-income gambling, which shows the characteristics of risk aversion; while in the pricing task they were more inclined to low-probability & high-yield gambling, which shows the characteristics of risk seeking. Secondly, during selection task subjects in a negative mood were more likely than positive mood to avoid risk. This effect in Experiment 1 of the H-S bet and in experiment 2 of the H-S, H-L bet was significantly marked; while in the pricing task, subjects in a positive mood than negative mood were more inclined to risk seeking, which was shown in experiment 1 of the H-L bet. Thirdly, in the pricing task subjects under time pressure were more inclined to risk seeking and this effect in experiment 2 of the H-S, H-L bet was significant; while in the selection task, subjects under time pressure were more likely to avoid risks and the S-L bet in experiment 2 demonstrated this feature. Besides, time pressure and emotion had an interaction:In the S-L bet, during the selection task, subjects in the positive emotion and under time pressure than when there was no time pressure were more likely to avoid risk, while in the negative emotion, time pressure had no significant influence on the choice; in the H-L bet, during the pricing task, subjects in the negative emotion and under time pressure than without time pressure were more likely to seek risk, but in a positive mood, time pressure had no significant impact on pricing.