Decision making in a chaotic world: The impact of randomness on confirmatory information processing in personal and economic decision making

When making a decision, individuals demonstrate a systematic preference for information that supports rather than conflicts with their existing beliefs, standpoints, or decisions. This phenomenon is known as confirmatory information processing and is observable in information search and information evaluation. Though prior research has provided initial evidence that confirmatory information processing might be affected by randomness that is perceived in the physical, social, and metaphysical environment, these relations have not yet been systematically explored. In order to close this research gap, the present thesis undertook three study series to investigate whether physical randomness (i.e., contextual order), social randomness (i.e., perceived personal control), and metaphysical randomness (i.e., order offered by metaphysical belief systems) affect confirmatory information processing in social and economic decision making. Each of the three study series is presented, theoretically embedded, and discussed in its own distinct chapter. Collectively, the present data propose that randomness affects confirmatory information processing regardless of the environment that it is perceived in. However, the effects of physical, social, and metaphysical randomness are not uniform. The results of Study Series 1 suggest that high physical randomness decreases confirmatory information processing. In contrast, Study Series 2 consistently suggests that high social randomness increases confirmatory information search, but does not affect confirmatory information evaluation. Specifically, high social randomness triggers feelings of helplessness, which in turn lead to heightened levels of confirmatory information search. Finally, the results of Study Series 3 indicate that low metaphysical randomness counteracts confirmatory information processing tendencies. Mediational analyses suggested that individuals who were primed with religious concepts indicated less commitment to their decision, which resulted in decreased levels of confirmatory information processing. Theoretical and practical implications for all three study series are discussed