Search

Much of the research on emotions and decision making has focused on how desire to avoid regret influences choices and post-decision information search. Recently van Dijk and Zeelenberg (2007) demonstrated that under certain circumstances individuals will seek out information about an alternative even though this information may induce regret about a previous decision. In two experiments, we extend this finding and show that curiosity is least likely to affect information seeking when the initial choice is made from fewer alternatives (a regret-inducing “near miss”) and the outcome of the choice is negative.

We tested the self-perception explanation of the foot-in-the-door effect by manipulating self-perceived helpfulness and assessing self-concept. Participants given $1 to sign a homelessness petition were less likely to see themselves as altruistic than participants not given the monetary incentive. The paid participants also complied less often with a request to work on a canned food drive 2 days later than unpaid participants. In contrast, participants told they were helpful individuals were more likely to see themselves as altruistic and were more likely to volunteer for the food drive than unlabeled participants. Mediation analyses provide evidence that changes in self-concept underlie a successful foot-in-the-door manipulation and support the self-perception explanation for the foot-in-the-door effect.