The Effect Of Ego-depletion And Profit And Loss Framework On Ambiguity Aversion In Competitive And Cooperative Contexts

Ambiguity aversion is a typical decision-making behavior preference in the field of ambiguity decision-making,which refers to the tendency of decision-makers to avoid events with ambiguity probabilities and prefer events with clear probabilities.There are many factors that affect ambiguity aversion,among which situational factors are one.Competition and cooperation are universal social phenomena and interpersonal interactions that are the focus of psychological attention.Although foreign researchers have explored the impact of competitive and cooperative situations on the preference for ambiguity aversion behavior,there is little research in China.After engaging in activities that consume psychological energy in different situations,individuals will be in a state of ego-depletion,and different egodepletion in different situations will have an impact on decision-making behavior.In the field of risk decision-making,research on the impact of ego-depletion on decision-making behavior has yielded inconsistent results.Some studies have found that ego-depletion leads to irrational decision-making,while others have found that ego-depletion leads to more cautious and conservative decision-making.So how does ego-depletion affect individual ambiguity decision-making in the same uncertain decision making as risky decision making? At the same time,decision-making is accompanied by gains and losses,and some studies have shown that the gain-loss frame will affect the preference for ambiguity aversion behavior.However,the research findings in this area are also inconsistent,with some studies finding individuals in the loss frame are more inclined to prefer ambiguity aversion,while others find that individuals in the gain frame are more inclined to prefer ambiguity aversion.Therefore,this article will explore the impact of ego-depletion and gain-loss frames on ambiguity aversion through three studies in competitive and cooperative situations.Study 1 used a single-factor experimental design,with the situational context as the independent variable and the frequency of choices of risky options and ambiguous options in Ellsberg’s task adaptation as the dependent variable.Results indicate that individuals in competitive situations choose risky options at a higher rate than in cooperative situations.Study 2 used a between-subjects experimental design with a 2(context: competitive vs.cooperative)× 2(ego-depletion: high vs.low)factorial design,with the net score on the Iowa Gambling Task as the dependent variable.The results showed that the net scores of the high ego-depletion group were significantly higher than the low ego-depletion group.Moreover,in the cooperative context,the net score of the high ego-depletion group was significantly higher than the low ego-depletion group;in the low ego-depletion state,the net score of the competition context group was significantly higher than that of the cooperative context group.Study 3 used a mixed experimental design with a 2(context: competitive vs.cooperative)× 2(ego-depletion: high vs.low)× 2(gain-loss frame: loss vs.gain)factorial design.The situational context and ego-depletion were between-subject variables,the gain-loss frame was a within-subject variable.The dependent variable was the score of individuals’ ambiguity decision-making preferences in Ellsberg’s task adaptation.The results indicated that the ambiguity decision preference scores of the high ego-depletion group were higher than low group.The scores in gain framework were lower than loss framework.Individuals had significant framing effects at different levels of context and ego-depletion.The conclusions of the studies are as follows:(1)Competitive and cooperative contexts had significant effects on ambiguity avoidance,with individuals in competitive contexts showing a greater preference for ambiguity aversion.(2)The effect of competitive and cooperative contexts on ambiguity aversion is moderated by ego-depletion.And different research paradigms can have different impacts.(3)High ego-depletion individuals in competitive contexts and low ego-depletion individuals in cooperative contexts exhibit significant framing effects.