DISTRIBUTION OF INITIAL RISK LEVELS AND GROUP DECISIONS INVOLVING RISK

Rejected the hypothesis that the risky-shift phenomenon can be accounted for by the effects of skewness. Although not accounting for the risky shift, skewness significantly influenced group decisions and shifts. However, it had no influence on items that yielded strong shifts toward risk, and moderate-to-strong influence on items that did not yield consistent shifts. It was suggested that the ambiguity of the items with respect to the availability of persuasive arguments can account for these differential effects. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.