What is the ambiguity effect?
The ambiguity effect describes our preference for options that we know, as opposed to options that we feel lack information or are debatable (Ellsberg, 1961).
We would rather be well informed than leave too much india mailing list to the imagination. Because of the ambiguity effect, we don't give two equal options equal chances. You don't give the unknown a chance because you think the risk is too great. This can make for a suboptimal decision, which also prevents you from taking advantage of any long-term benefits of the riskier choice.
The ambiguity effect is similar to risk aversion, only in the ambiguity effect the voter has even less information available. In the ambiguity effect, the voter knows the likely outcome of only one of the options; in risk aversion, he knows about both and chooses the one with the highest probability of success. With both, we do not like to gamble on an option that is risky. Do you dare to choose something unknown? Are you satisfied with lesser success? Do you dare to take risks?
How does the ambiguity effect arise?
We don't like uncertainty. Therefore, we will try to avoid that feeling of uncertainty and choose an option whose outcome we are almost certain of. Especially when we need to make a decision quickly. However, you can never know everything about a subject. Focusing your attention too much on how much you don't know can make the uncertain option seem even more uncertain. And do you actually know enough about the more certain option (Frisch & Baron, 1988)?
Among men, the ambiguity effect is more pronounced than among women. However, this difference becomes smaller when the difference in ignorance between one option and the other is greater (Borghans, Golsteyn, Heckman & Meijers, 2009).