TY - JOUR
T1 - PERSONALITY, INFORMATION ACQUISITION, AND CHOICE UNDER UNCERTAINTY
T2 - AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
AU - Fréchette, Guillaume R.
AU - Schotter, Andrew
AU - Trevino, Isabel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Western Economic Association International
PY - 2017/7
Y1 - 2017/7
N2 - This article studies the role of personality in choice under risk and uncertainty. We explore the hypothesis that personality plays a role in decision making in situations of uncertainty but not in situations of risk. In addition to offering support for this main hypothesis, we explore the various pathways through which personality exerts its influence. What we find is that in uncertain environments, where decision makers are able to acquire information about the unknown probability distributions they face, personality variables influence the type of information people acquire, which then influences their choice. Our experimental design brings in two novel aspects of choice under uncertainty: information acquisition and advice. The findings indicate that indeed, under uncertainty, personality matters for choice in a way it does not under risk. Furthermore, the results suggest that personality can play a role at multiple levels, such as people's preferences for certain types of information and the likelihood of following advice. (JEL C90, D03, D81).
AB - This article studies the role of personality in choice under risk and uncertainty. We explore the hypothesis that personality plays a role in decision making in situations of uncertainty but not in situations of risk. In addition to offering support for this main hypothesis, we explore the various pathways through which personality exerts its influence. What we find is that in uncertain environments, where decision makers are able to acquire information about the unknown probability distributions they face, personality variables influence the type of information people acquire, which then influences their choice. Our experimental design brings in two novel aspects of choice under uncertainty: information acquisition and advice. The findings indicate that indeed, under uncertainty, personality matters for choice in a way it does not under risk. Furthermore, the results suggest that personality can play a role at multiple levels, such as people's preferences for certain types of information and the likelihood of following advice. (JEL C90, D03, D81).
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U2 - 10.1111/ecin.12438
DO - 10.1111/ecin.12438
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85013335900
SN - 0095-2583
VL - 55
SP - 1468
EP - 1488
JO - Economic Inquiry
JF - Economic Inquiry
IS - 3
ER -