Risk Reduction
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to examine (1) how the causal structure of a disease influences people's disease prevention decisions; and (2) how the causal structure of a disease interacts with people's regret anticipation in determining their disease prevention decisions.
Detailed description
People sometimes have to deliberate on whether or not to remove a risk factor that may potentially cause a disease in the future. When a controllable risk factor (say, X) is the only factor that causes a disease, the decision to remove it may simply depend on the probabilistic relationship between X and an outcome, as well as the cost of removing X. However, little is known when other factors that are out of the decision-maker's control are also present. The main question being asked here is how does the presence of such uncontrollable factors change people's decision to remove X. Specifically, the investigators consider two cases: a disease caused by a single controllable risk factor (say X) and a disease caused by two risk factors -- a controllable factor (X) and an uncontrollable factor (Y). In both cases, the removal of X can result in a meaningful reduction in overall disease risk. It is hypothesized that even when the magnitude of overall risk reduction brought by the removal of X is the same in the two cases, people would have a lower motivation to remove X in the latter case. The investigators also examine how the presence of an uncontrollable risk factor interacts with the respondents' regret anticipation to influence their decision to remove X. In the context of the current research, regret anticipation could take one of the following forms: (a) feel regretful if one decides not to remove X and later develops the disease (b) feel regretful if one decides to remove X but still develops the disease. The investigators expect (a) to moderate the effect of uncontrollable risk factor on motivation to remove X.
Interventions
OTHERpresence of uncontrollable risk factor
the presence of an uncontrollable / unremovable risk factor for a disease
higher level of elaboration on potential regret
Sponsors
University of Toronto
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Masking description
Each participant will only receive the instruction pertaining to the arm to which he/she is assigned. The Research Assistant who conducts the study does not know about the hypothesis.
Intervention model description
The study has a 2 (presence of uncontrollable factor: yes vs. no) ✕ 2 (Anticipated regret induction: yes vs. no) between-subject design. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the 4 between-subject conditions. There is also a within-subject variable. Each subject will respond to 10 rounds of decision task with 5 different levels of overall disease risk reduction brought by the removal of X. The 5 levels of risk reduction are: (i) Removal of X reduces disease risk from 60% to 50% ; (ii) 60% to 40%; (iii) 60% to 30%; (iv) 60% to 20%; (v) 60% to 10%.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* students enrolled in marketing courses at the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Exclusion criteria
* None
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Decision to remove X | Day 1: When responding to the questionnaire | The decision to remove X (yes vs. no) |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anticipated regret | Day 1: When responding to the questionnaire. | The exact question is: Some people may engage in the following thoughts when they make their decisions: I may regret if I do not remove X and end up getting the disease OR I may regret if I remove X but still get the disease. To what extent have you engaged in any of these thoughts? (Measurement scale: 1 = not at all; 7 = a lot) |
| Judgment of whether the removal of X is an opportunity to improve earnings | Day 1: When responding to the questionnaire. | The exact question is: Do you think the decision to remove X is an opportunity for you to improve your final earnings? (Measurement scale: 1 = not a good opportunity at all; 7 = a very good opportunity) |
| Sense of control over the final outcome | Day 1: When responding to the questionnaire. | The exact question is: Do you think you have control over the outcome through your decision of whether or not to remove X? (Measurement scale: 1 = I have very little control… 7 = I have a lot of control) |
Countries
Hong Kong
Contacts
Primary ContactWing Man Yeung, PhD
Outcome results
None listed