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Eldar Shafir
My research focuses on descriptive analyses of judgment and decision making, and on issues related to behavioral economics. Most recently I have focused on decision making in the context of poverty. The research focuses primarily on how people make decisions in situations of conflict and uncertainty. What strategies do people employ in arriving at their decisions? Do these strategies lead to systematic biases and predictable errors? And what do these tell us about the way the mind processes information? Among other issues, research has explored the role of information search, decisional conflict, mental accounting, reason-based choice, and identity salience. Of particular interest is the contrast between normative and descriptive theories of rationality, and their implications for policy. Visit WebsitePublications LeBoeuf, R., & Shafir, E. 2006. The long and short of it: Physical anchoring effects. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19: 393-406.
Attempts to reconstruct the magnitude of recently encountered physical stimuli were influenced by the provision of physical anchors. Whether estimating length, weight, or loudness, those increasing the magnitude of a relatively small (short, light, or quiet) physical anchor produced estimates that were reliably lower than did those decreasing the magnitude of a relatively large (long, heavy, or loud) anchor. Estimates produced without an anchor were also low, suggesting that when people physically adjust upwards from a self-selected starting point, no anchor may, in fact, act as a very low anchor. 
Caruso, E.M., & Shafir, E. 2006. Now that I think about it, I’m in the mood for laughs: Decisions Focused on Mood. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19, 155-169.
Four studies examine the impact that thinking about mood can have on people's choices. In Study 1, participants who were asked to suppose they were in good, bad, or neutral moods were more likely to choose a silly comedic movie over an otherwise more attractive drama, compared to others who had not thought about mood. Similar patterns were observed when people thought about how they felt before making a hypothetical choice (Study 2) or an actual choice (Study 3). In Study 4, participants who pursued mood-relevant information chose to see a comedic play more often than those who had not focused on such information. Thinking about their own mood appears to increase decision makers' concern with the pleasurable consequences of decisions, thereby promoting mood regulatory activities and altering preference, possibly in favor of less optimal outcomes. |
