LOSS AVERSION IN DECISIONS MADE FOR OTHERS VERSUS DECISIONS MADE FOR ONESELF

Human beings display greater sensitivity towards losses than to gains on a variety of occasions. While this phenomenon, labeled as loss aversion, has been widely observed by many researchers, most of the existing studies are concerned with subjects making decisions for themselves. This study aims to examine whether loss aversion is reduced in a framework under which decisions are made by others so that the decision-maker is not bearing the consequences of his actions. A total of 131 responses from a withinsubjects experiment were analyzed, in which participants had to make decisions both for themselves and for others. Overall, while moderate loss aversion was observed in both decision stages, the magnitude of which was comparable and not significantly different from each other. The results suggest that letting others than the consequencebearer to make decisions is not effective at combatting loss aversion.