Choosing an Inferior Alternative

Abstract:     
We show how decision makers can be induced to choose a personally inferior alternative, a strong violation of rational decision making. The binary choice process is traced to reveal the progress of the manipulation. First, the inferior alternative is installed as the leading option by starting with information that supports it. Then the decision maker uses the natural process of distorting new information to support whichever alternative is leading to overcome the inherent advantages of the superior alternative. The end result is a majority choice of the self-identified inferior alternative. Self-reported awareness reveals no relation between awareness and distortion to support the inferior alternative, suggesting that such manipulated preference violations are unlikely to be detected and self-corrected. In accord with the lack of awareness, final confidence is just as high when the inferior alternative is chosen as when the superior one is. The discussion considers how to prevent an adversary from manipulating one's decisions using this technique.

Accepted Paper Series