Inaction Inertia Effect: Foregoing Opportunities as a Consequence of an Initial Failure to Act – a Replication-Extension Study in the Brazilian Population

Rodrigo Sardinha Borborema; Mariana de Moraes Ferreira; Ana Luiza Martins da Silva; Rafael Sousa Bastos; Daniel Graça Fatori de Sá; Gilad Feldman; Leonardo Restani Seda Pinto; Marcelo Camargo Batistuzzo

doi:10.15626/MP.2023.3960

Authors

Rodrigo Sardinha Borborema Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)
Mariana de Moraes Ferreira Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Ana Luiza Martins da Silva Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Rafael Valdece Sousa Bastos São Francisco University, SP, Brazil
Daniel Fatori Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Gilad Feldman Department of Banking and Finance, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Leonardo Seda Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Marcelo Camargo Batistuzzo Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Methods and Techniques in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2023.3960

Keywords:

Inaction Inertia Effect, Decision-making, Replication, Cognitive Bias, Psychology, Behavioral Economics

Abstract

The inaction inertia effect is a cognitive bias in which forgoing an attractive opportunity reduces the likelihood of accepting a subsequent, less attractive opportunity. This phenomenon was initially demonstrated by Tykocinski et al. (1995), and the present study aimed to replicate their findings and assess the effect in a Brazilian population. We used an online survey with a translated version of the original questionnaire, as well as an extension scenario. The final sample included 436 participants. We performed statistical analyses using the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test, comparing three conditions ("Small-Difference", "Large-Difference", and "Control") for the four original scenarios and one extension scenario. We also stratified the scenarios into two categories for a second extension investigation: those involving money (Hotel and Car) and those that did not (Frequent flyer and Fitness center), and evaluated them using linear mixed-effects analyses. We found evidence of the inaction inertia effect in 6 of the 12 comparisons between conditions conducted across the four original scenarios, indicating its presence in this Brazilian sample. All scenarios presented significant differences between conditions (p-values < 0.001; ϵ² ranging from 0.06 to 0.22), except for the Frequent flyer scenario (p-value = 0.073; ϵ² = 0.01). We also observed support for the Inaction Inertia Effect in the extension scenario, providing further evidence of its presence in our sample (p-value = 0.002; ϵ² = 0.03). Moreover, we found that money was a significant factor in participants’ decisions (p-values = 0.004 and 0.002), suggesting that different decision-making processes are involved when money is at stake. This replication-extension study provides evidence of the inaction inertia effect in the Brazilian population, indicating that passage of time and cultural differences may not significantly affect this cognitive bias, first described almost 30 years ago. Materials, data, and code were made available at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/62NXB

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