Neural correlates of dueling affective reactions to win-win choices.

ABSTRACT: Win-win choices cause anxiety, often more so than decisions lacking the opportunity for a highly desired outcome. These anxious feelings can paradoxically co-occur with positive feelings, raising important implications for individual decision styles and general well-being. Across three studies, people chose between products that varied in personal value. Participants reported feeling most positive and most anxious when choosing between similarly high-valued products. Behavioral and neural results suggested that this paradoxical experience resulted from parallel evaluations of the expected outcome (inducing positive affect) versus the cost of choosing a response (inducing anxiety). Positive feelings were reduced when there was no high-value option, and anxiety was reduced when only one opti

SUBMITTER: Shenhav A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4121780 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature