Abstract
Although both cognitive and motivational factors can influence the communication of uncertain information, most of the work investigating the communication of uncertainty has focused on cognitive factors. In this article, we demonstrate that motivational factors influence the communication of private, uncertain information and we describe the relationship between elasticity (i.e. uncertainty and vagueness) and motivated communication. We report results from four experiments that demonstrate that motivated communication is not purely opportunistic. The values people report are constrained by the elasticity of private information even when the costs and benefits of misrepresenting information are held constant. Perceptions of justifiability mediate the relationship between elasticity and motivated communication, and we explain our results in terms of the self-justification process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baron, R. M. and D. A. Kenny. (1986). “The Moderator-Mediator Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51, 1173-1182.
Bok, S. (1978). Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. New York: Pantheon.
Budescu, D. V. and T. S. Wallsten. (1985). “Consistency in Interpretation of Probabilistic Phrases,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 36, 391-405.
Budescu, D. V., S. Weinberg, and T. S. Wallsten. (1988). “Decisions Based on Numerically and Verbally Expressed Uncertainties,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 14, 281-294.
Camerer, C. and M. Weber. (1992). “Recent Developments in Modeling Preferences: Uncertainty and Ambiguity,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 5, 325-370.
Einhorn, H. and R. Hogarth. (1986). “Decision Making under Ambiguity,” Journal of Business 59, S225-S250.
Ellsberg, D. (1961). “Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 75, 643-669.
Fox, C. and J. Irwin. (1998). “The Role of Context in the Communication of Uncertain Beliefs,” Basic and Applied Social Psychology 20, 57-70.
Fischhoff, B. and W. Bruine de Bruin. (1999). “Fifty-Fifty=50%?” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 12, 149-163.
Gaba, A. and W. K. Viscusi. (1998). “Differences in Subjective Risk Thresholds: Worker Groups as an Example,” Management Science 44, 801-811.
Grover, S. L. (1993). “Lying, Deceit, and Subterfuge: A Model of Dishonesty in the Workplace,” Organizational Science 4, 478-495.
Ho, J., L. Keller, and P. Keltyka. (2001). “Manager's Variance Investigation Decisions: An Experimental Examination of Probablistic and Outcome Ambiguity,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 14, 257-278.
Ho, J., L. Keller, and P. Keltyka. (2002). “Effects of Outcome and Probablistic Ambiguity on Managerial Choices,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 24, 47-74.
Hogarth, R. and H. Kunreuther. (1985). “Ambiguity and Insurance Decisions,” American Economic Review 75, 386-390.
Hogarth, R. and H. Kunreuther. (1989). “Risk, Ambiguity, and Insurance,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 2, 5-35.
Hogarth, R. and H. Kunreuther. (1995). “Decision Making under Ignorance: Arguing with Yourself,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 10, 15-36.
Hsee, C. K. (1995). “Elastic Justification: How Tempting but Task-Irrelevant Factors Influence Decisions,” Organizational Behavioral and Human Decision Process 62, 330-337.
Hsee, C. K. (1996). “Elastic Justification: How Unjustifiable Factors Influence Judgments,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 66, 122-129.
Jones, T. (1991). “Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model,” Academy of Management Review 16, 366-395.
Kahn, B. and R. Sarin. (1988). “Modeling Ambiguity in Decisions under Uncertainty,” Journal of Consumer Research 15, 265-272.
Kahneman, D. and A. Tversky. (1979). “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk,” Econometrica 47, 263-291.
Kahneman, D. and A. Tversky. (2000). Choice, Values, and Frames. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kunreuther, H., R. Hogarth, and J. Meszaros. (1993). “Insurer Ambiguity and Market Failure,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 7, 71-87.
Kunda, Z. (1991). “The Case for Motivated Reasoning,” Psychological Bulletin 108, 480-498.
Lewicki, R. J. (1983). “Lying and Deception: A Behavioral Model.” In M. H. Bazerman and R. J. Lewicki (eds.), Negotiating in Organizations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
von Neumann, J. and O. Morgenstern. (1947). Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, 2nd ed., Princeton: Princeton University Press.
O'Connor, K. and P. Carnevale. (1997). “A Nasty but Effective Negotiation Strategy: Misrepresentation of a Common-Value Issue,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 23, 504-515.
Payne, J., J. Bettman, and E. Johnson. (1992). “Behavioral Decision Research: A Constructive Processing Perspective,” Annual Review of Psychology 43, 87-131.
Poulton, E. C. (1994). Behavioral Decision Theory: A New Approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Savage, L. (1954). The Foundations of Statistics. New York: Wiley.
Schweitzer, M. and R. Croson. (1999). “Curtailing Deception: The Impact of Direct Questions on Lies and Omissions,” International Journal of Conflict Management 10, 225-248.
Scott, E. D. and K. A. Jehn. (1999). “About Face: A Model of Dishonesty and Organizational Image.” Working paper Management Department, Wharton School.
Slovic, P. (1992). “Public Perceptions of Risk,” Risk Management 39, 54-58.
Slovic, P., B. Fischhoff, and S. Lichtenstein. (1978). “Accident Probabilities and Seat Belt Usage: A Psychological Perspective,” Accident Analysis and Prevention 10, 281-285.
Slovic, P. and J. Monahan. (1995). “Probability, Danger, and Coercion: A Study of Risk Perception and Decision Making in Mental Health Law,” Law and Human Behavior 19, 49-65.
Stone, E., F. Yates, and A. Parker. (1994). “Risk Communication: Absolute versus Relative Expressions of Low-Probability Risks,” Organizational Behavioral and Human Decision Process 60, 387-408.
Tenbrunsel, A. (1998). “Misrepresentation and Expectation of Misrepresentation in an Ethical Dilemma: The Role of Incentives and Temptation,” Academy of Management Journal 41, 330-339.
Thaler, R. (1999). “Mental Accounting Matters,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 12, 183-206.
Trevino, L. (1986). “Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model,” Academy of Management Review 11, 601-617.
Trevino, L. and S. Youngblood. (1990). “A Bad Apples in Bad Barrels: A Causal Analysis of Ethical Decision-Making Behavior,” Journal of Applied Psychology 75, 378-385.
Tversky, A. and D. Kahneman. (1991). “Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 106, 1039-1061.
Viscusi, W. K. (1997). “Alarmist Decision with Divergent Risk Information,” The Economic Journal 107, 1657-1670.
Wallsten, T. S., D. V. Budescu, and R. Zwick. (1993). “Comparing the Calibration and Coherence of Numerical and Verbal Probability Judgments,” Management Science 39, 176-190.
Wallsten, T. S., D. V. Budescu, R. Zwick, and S. M. Kemp. (1993). “Preferences and Reasons for Communicating Probabilistic Information in Verbal or Numerical Terms,” Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 31, 135-138.
Weber, E. U. and C. Hsee. (1998). “Cross-Cultural Differences in Risk Perception, but Cross-Cultural Similarities in Attitudes toward Perceived Risk,” Management Science 44, 1205-1217.
Weber, E. U. and R. A. Milliman. (1997). “Perceived Risk Attitudes: Relating Risk Perception to Risky Choice,” Management Science 43, 123-144.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schweitzer, M.E., Hsee, C.K. Stretching the Truth: Elastic Justification and Motivated Communication of Uncertain Information. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 25, 185–201 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020647814263
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020647814263