Psychological value theory: The psychological value of human lives and economic goods.
Dale J. Cohen, Amanda R. Cromley, Katelyn E. Freda, Madeline White
Abstract
, measures Psychological Value using a traditional psychophysics paradigm, and predicts preferential choice from those measurements using a value-based computational model. We evaluate the validity of Psychological Value Theory across six experiments. In Experiment 1, we use Psychological Value Theory to estimate the perceived Psychological Value of human lives and economic goods. The data reveal that perceived Psychological Value of lives is highly influenced by individual differences of people but minimally influenced by the number of people in a group. In Experiments 2-5, we demonstrate that when used as input in a value-based computational model, perceived Psychological Values of human lives accurately predict participants' RT and response choices to sacrificial moral dilemmas. In Experiment 6, we replicate these findings for decisions involving economic goods. We cross-validate our results with multiple data sets using multiple methods. We conclude that the same value-based processes underlying economic decisions also underlie choices involving human lives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).