Cultural, social, and emotional determinants of decisions under uncertainty

Two experiments examined the factors that influence Chinese and United States college students’ decisions in both a simulated investment situation and an academic situation. Participants in each experiment were confronted with a choice between (a) an alternative that could have either a very positive outcome or a very negative one and (b) an alternative that was relatively safe. The decision that others had typically made in the situation was also indicated. Participants’ decisions in both experiments were mediated by the emotional reactions they experienced in response to alternative decision outcomes. Others’ decisions had a direct impact on decisions in the investment situation, but their impact in the academic situation was mediated by their influence on participants’ anticipated emotional reactions. Cultural differences in the impact of anticipated feelings and others’ decisions were not evident in the investment situation. However, they were apparent in the academic situation, which was more similar to ones that participants were likely to encounter in daily life.