Common bias known as 'endowment effect' not present in hunter-gatherer societies
Monday, October 28, 2013 - 20:00
in Psychology & Sociology
Psychology and behavioral economics have experimentally identified a laundry list of common biases that cause people to act against their own apparent interests. One of these biases -- the mere fact of possessing something raises its value to its owner -- is known as the "endowment effect." A new interdisciplinary study has delved into whether this bias is truly universal, and whether it might have been present in humanity's evolutionary past.