High-stakes decisions do not require narrative conviction but narrative flexibility. (8th May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Breithaupt, Fritz; Hicks, Milo; Hiskes, Benjamin; Lagrange, Victoria
• Is Part Of: Behavioral and brain sciences. Volume 46(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-05-08
• Subjects: Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Human behavior -- Periodicals; Animal behavior -- Periodicals; Brain -- Periodicals; 616.89142
• DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X22002606
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0140-525X

Abstract

Abstract: We challenge Johnson et al.'s assumption that people reduce unclear situations to a single narrative explanation and that such reduction would be adaptive for decision-making under radical uncertainty. Instead, we argue that people imagine and maintain multiple narrative possibilities throughout the decision-making process and that this process provides cognitive flexibility and adaptive benefits within the proposed model.