Action Bias or Illusion of Control?

Last registered on October 17, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Action Bias or Illusion of Control?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012294
Initial registration date
October 13, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 17, 2023, 1:40 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Virginia

Primary Investigator

Name
Aleksander Psurek
Affiliation
George Mason University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Johanna Mollerstrom
PI Affiliation
George Mason University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Kevin McCabe
PI Affiliation
George Mason University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-10-16
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We set out to measure the relative effect sizes, if any, of the illusion of control and actions bias in simple games. To this end, we employ a stochastic game in which both illusion of control and action bias could play a role and a very similar deterministic game, which should only be affected by action bias. In both cases, subjects can either buy, or sell, the right to be a more active (though not a more influential, or controlling), participant in their assigned game. We measure subjects willingness to pay, or willingness to accept payment, for this right through third price clock auctions and can thereby compare the prevalence, and strength, of illusion of control and action bias.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
McCabe, Kevin, Johanna Mollerstrom and Aleksander Psurek. 2023. "Action Bias or Illusion of Control?." AEA RCT Registry. October 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12294-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We are conducting a lab (computer and physical) experiment measuring the effects of the illusion of control and of action bias in stochastic and deterministic games involving dice.
Intervention Start Date
2023-10-16
Intervention End Date
2023-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcomes are the monetary compensation forfeited by subjects for the right to be non-instrumentally involved in stochastic and deterministic games. We will be comparing the value forfeited for the non-instrumental involvement (rolling of dice) in stochastic games (illusion of control and action bias) and deterministic games (action bias).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We will be measuring endowment effects of non-instrumental involvement rights, i.e. do subjects value the right to be non-instrumentally involved if they are so involved by default as opposed to not.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a lab experiment employing computer interfaces and physical dice. Subjects participate in either a stochastic or a deterministic game involving a pair of dice. Subjects either have the right to roll this pair of dice by default and have the ability to sell it in an auction, or subjects do not have the right to roll their pair of dice and can purchase this right in an auction. Before this auction, subjects participate in two practice auctions with induced valuations. Subjects complete an investment game to measure their financial risk preference and fill out a survey about their demographics, psychographics, and their understanding of the study.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by a flip of two coins determining the treatment for the session. Randomization is done without replacement, so the expected and effective number of sessions should be the same for all treatments, but if a sufficient number of sessions have less participants, then additional sessions of this treatment may be run.
Randomization Unit
Experimental sessions
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Clustering will be at the individual level, and there will be 200-300
Sample size: planned number of observations
We plan to collect 200-300 individual observations.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each treatment is expected to have 50 or more individuals (clusters).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Based on the game-theoretic expected behavior, variance and mean should be 0 for all treatments. Lacking external inputs, at least 50 observations (individuals) per treatment was selected. It is unclear where a credible estimate for variance for this experiment would be.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
George Mason University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2023-10-12
IRB Approval Number
2106487-1
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials