Economists at the London School of Economics got some students into the lab. They got them to fill in a survey (the survey was basically a decoy). Then they said to the students ‘Thank you for filling in the survey, as a token of our appreciation, would you like a snack? What would you like: fruit, or chocolate?’ The students, being members of the human race, mostly chose chocolate.
In another variant of the experiment, the economists got the students to fill in the survey and said ‘Thank you very much, next week, we’ll bring you a snack. What would you like next week, fruit or chocolate?’ And the students said ‘Fruit sounds nice, thank you very much’. The next week they would turn up with the fruit and say ‘here’s the fruit you asked for … are you sure you wouldn’t like chocolate?’ At which point many students would switch to chocolate.
What happened here?
OK, another situation. This time they offered the students a choice of films. When deciding what they wanted to watch that night the students chose American Pie, Mrs Doubtfire, Sleepless in Seattle and the like. When asked what films they would like to watch in two weeks’ time, the students chose Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Three Colours: Blue, Raise the Red Lantern and Schindler’s List. (Have you even heard of Rashomon ... I had to browse through IMdb to know more)
The above two examples indicate that the choices we make in the near aren’t necessarily the same as the choices we make over a longer time frame. Whether it’s an exercise regime, a diet program or trying to quit smoking, we’ve all been torn between satisfying our immediate desires and doing what is best for us.
Story on Steve Johnson's blog
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