先前错失选项的数量对不作为惯性的调节机制

在以往涉及不作为惯性的研究中,个体通常只是错失了1个先前选项.本研究旨在考察当之前错失了多个选项后,不作为惯性是否仍会出现,并深入探讨估价和后悔因素在不作为惯性产生或消失中的作用.结果发现,先前错失选项的数量对不作为惯性具有调节作用:当先前只错失了1个选项时,出现了不作为惯性,当先前已错失了两个选项时,不作为惯性消失了.中介分析发现,这一调节作用可被预期后悔所中介.结果表明,预期后悔是导致个体在错失多个选项后不作为惯性消失的主要原因.

The Moderation Role of the Number of Missed Option in Producing Inaction Inertia

Until now, most inaction inertia studies investigated the effect of missing a single prior opportunity on the likelihood to act on the current opportunity. The present experiment aimed at exploring whether the inaction inertia would still appear when individuals had bypassed more than one attractive option and further investigating the role of regret and valuation in producing inaction inertia. The results showed that the number of missed option had moderation effect on inaction inertia: When individuals missed only one option, a relatively large discrepancy in attractiveness between the missed and the current opportunity led to a lower likelihood of taking the second action than a small-discrepancy condition, which demonstrated inaction inertia; when two earlier options were missed, the difference between the missed and the current opportunity had no significant effect on the likelihood of taking the second action, which indicated that inaction inertia disappeared. The mediation analyses showed that the moderation effect was mediated by anticipated regret. The results suggested that anticipated regret could account for the disappearance of inaction inertia when individuals bypassed multiple options.