One of the most common findings in behavioral decision research is that people often have unrealistic beliefs about how much they know, but only recently have researchers begun to examine the consequences of these unrealistic beliefs. Unfortunately, examination of this issue is complicated by...

Prior research on self-other differences involving risk have found that individuals make riskier decisions for others than for the self in situations where risk taking is valued. We expand this research by examining whether the direction of self-other differences reverses when risk aversion is...

The emergence of a leading alternative during the course of a decision is known to bias the evaluation of new information in a manner that favors that alternative. We report 3 studies that address the sensitivity of predecisional information distortion and its effects in hypothetical risky...

Our previous research suggests that people reporting a stronger desire to maximize obtain worse life outcomes (Bruine de Bruin et al., 2007). Here, we examine whether this finding may be explained by the decision-making styles of self-reported maximizers. Expanding on Schwartz et al.\ (2002), we...

Current economic conditions have raised serious concerns about Americans' financial security, especially for those who lack the skills and resources to withstand financial market downswings and take advantage of upswings. However, significant debate continues about the role of financial...

Current economic conditions have raised serious concerns about Americans' financial security, especially for those who lack the skills and resources to withstand financial market downswings and take advantage of upswings. However, significant debate continues about the role of financial...

Recent advances in behavioral decision research, behavioral economics, and life-span development psychology provide leverage for expanding our understanding of the decision to retire earlier versus later. This report examines how cognitive abilities, perceptions about the future, and other...

We study whether individuals with different personality traits systematically exhibit different retirement trajectories. We find weak direct associations between personality and employment transitions. On the other hand, personality does contribute indirectly to these transitions by moderating...

This paper presents results based on a survey fielded in the RAND American Life Panel that queried older workers about their current, desired, and expected job characteristics, and about how certain job characteristics would affect their retirement. Having access to flexible work hours was found...