Do People Inherently Dislike Uncertain Advice?

Research suggests that people prefer confident advisors to uncertain advisors. But do people dislike uncertain advice or merely uncertain presentations of advice? Across a series of studies, we find that an advisor is judged more favorably when the advice is expressed confidently than when it is preceded by “I am not sure.” Importantly, however, people are not more likely to prefer certain advice. People do not dislike (and sometimes prefer) advisors who express uncertainty by providing ranges of possibilities, or by saying that something is only X% likely. Thus, it seems that people dislike presentations of uncertainty, but not uncertainty itself.

Room: 
1104
Event Type: 
Colloquium
Location: 
Berkeley Way West
Date: 
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Time: 
12:10:00
To: 
13:15:00
Event Sponsor: 
Personality and Social Research, Institute of
Event Speakers: 
Celia Gaertig