Hard decisions2/28/2024 Prominent explanations are based on Festinger's (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance, which proposes that discrepancies between actions and preferences cause psychological discomfort. The choice-induced preference change effect refers to the phenomenon that after having made a hard choice, the chosen option is preferred more while the alternative is preferred less ( Izuma and Murayama, 2013). One highly debated question is whether the act of choosing among equally valued alternatives (henceforth hard decisions) itself shapes preferences. Indeed, substantial evidence suggests that preferences are not rigid, but evolve dynamically and are dependent on the decision context ( Lichtenstein and Slovic, 2006). Instead, preferences might need to be reconstructed dynamically as hard decisions arise if we do not want to end up like Burdian's starving donkey. This parable illustrates that there are hard decisions in which existing preferences are not sufficient to identify a preferred option. As alternatives appear equally appealing, the donkey is unable to decide and eventually starves to death. In Jean Buridan's philosophical parable, a hungry donkey is placed between two bales of hay. However, there are situations in which choice options appear equally valuable to the decision-maker, and therefore existing preferences are not sufficient to rank alternatives. Traditional neurocognitive models of value-based choice view decision-making as a serial process in which stable preferences are the basis of subsequent choices ( Dolan and Dayan, 2013). Our results suggest that preferences are dynamic, adjusted every time a hard decision is made, prompting a re-evaluation of existing frameworks of decision-making. We also show that eye movements during decision-making are predictive of the magnitude of the upcoming value change. However, what happens for hard decisions when the available options are preferred equally? We show that in such stalemate situations, decision-makers adjust their preferences dynamically during the process of decision-making, and these preference adjustments are predicted by a left prefrontal-parietal network. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Most theories of decision-making assume that we always choose the best option available, based on a set of stable preferences. Our results suggest that preferences evolve dynamically as decisions arise, potentially as a mechanism to prevent stalemate situations in underdetermined decision scenarios. These preference adjustments became behaviorally relevant only for choices that were remembered and were in turn associated with hippocampus activity. Fixation durations during this phase predicted both choice outcomes and subsequent preference changes. Preference changes were predicted from activity in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and precuneus while making hard decisions. In contrast, this functional magnetic resonance imaging and eye-tracking study with male and female human participants found that preferences are already updated online during the process of decision-making. Previous research suggests that this phenomenon is a consequence of cognitive dissonance reduction after the decision, induced by the mismatch between initial preferences and decision outcomes. Hard decisions between equally valued alternatives can result in preference changes, meaning that subsequent valuations for chosen items increase and decrease for rejected items.
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