Scarcity affects cognitive biases: the case of the illusion of causality

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dc.contributor.authorViñas Gómez, Aranzazu
dc.contributor.authorBlanco Bregón, Fernando
dc.contributor.authorMatute, Helena
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-23T11:44:54Z
dc.date.available2025-07-23T11:44:54Z
dc.date.issued2023-09
dc.date.updated2025-07-23T11:44:54Z
dc.description.abstractPrevious research indicates that economic scarcity affects people's judgments, decisions, and cognition in a variety of contexts, and with various consequences. We hypothesized that scarcity could sometimes reduce cognitive biases. Specifically, it could reduce the causal illusion, a cognitive bias that is at the heart of superstitions and irrational thoughts, and consists of believing that two events are causally connected when they are not. In three experiments, participants played the role of doctors deciding whether to administer a drug to a series of patients. The drug was ineffective, because the percentage of patients recovering was identical regardless of whether they took the drug. We manipulated the budget available to buy the drugs, tough all participants had enough for all their patients. Even so, participants in the scarce group reduced the use of the drug and showed a lower causal illusion than participants in the wealthy group. Experiments 2 and 3 added a phase in which the budget changed. Participants who transitioned from scarcity to wealth exhibited a reduced use of resources and a lower causal illusion, whereas participants transitioning from wealth to scarcity were unaffected by their previous history.en
dc.description.sponsorshipSupport for this research was provided by Grant PID2021-126320NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe, as well as Grant IT1696-22 from the Basque Government. A.V. was supported by Fellowship FPU20/01009 from Ministerio de Universidadesen
dc.identifier.citationVinas, A., Blanco, F., & Matute, H. (2023). Scarcity affects cognitive biases: the case of the illusion of causality. Acta Psychologica, 239. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ACTPSY.2023.104007
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/J.ACTPSY.2023.104007
dc.identifier.eissn1873-6297
dc.identifier.issn0001-6918
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14454/3276
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherElsevier B.V.
dc.rights© 2023 The Authors
dc.subject.otherCausal illusion
dc.subject.otherCausal judgment
dc.subject.otherCognitive bias
dc.subject.otherDecision-making
dc.subject.otherScarcity
dc.titleScarcity affects cognitive biases: the case of the illusion of causalityen
dc.typejournal article
dcterms.accessRightsopen access
oaire.citation.titleActa Psychologica
oaire.citation.volume239
oaire.licenseConditionhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
oaire.versionVoR
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