Han, SeungheeLerner, JenniferZeckhauser, Richard2012-05-092012Han, Seunghee, Lerner, Jennifer and Zeckhauser, Richard J. 2012. Disgust Promotes Disposal: Souring the Status Quo. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 44(2): 101-113.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:8705902Individuals tend toward status quo bias: preferring existing options over new ones. There is a countervailing phenomenon: Humans naturally dispose of objects that disgust them, such as foul-smelling food. But what if the source of disgust is independent of the object? We induced disgust via a film clip to see if participants would trade away an item (a box of unidentified office supplies) for a new item (alternative unidentified box). Such “incidental disgust” strongly countered status quo bias. Disgusted people exchanged their present possession 51% of the time compared to 32% for people in a neutral state. Thus, disgust promotes disposal. A second experiment tested whether a warning about this tendency would diminish it. It did not. These results indicate a robust disgust-promotes-disposal effect. Because these studies presented real choices with tangible rewards, their findings have implications for everyday choices and raise caution about the effectiveness of warnings about biases.en-USMLD - Management, Leadership, and Decision SciencesDecision ScienceEmotionDecision MakingJournal Article10.1007/s11166-012-9139-3