An approach to boost decision-makers' competences

Focusing on the illusion of explanatory depth

Abstract

In the nudge approaches, studies have investigated how the change in the choice architecture can push people to make a more “appropriate” decision. On the other hand, in the boost approaches, studies have investigated how to improve people’s own competences in decision making. In this study, we investigated a new approach for boosting. We focused on the illusion of explanatory depth, which means the phenomenon that people tend to overestimate the amount of knowledge they think they have. We conducted two experiments and the results showed that (i) those who had a stronger illusion of explanatory depth were more likely to make a logically biased decision and (ii) by informing them of their illusion and providing them with the knowledge, we could reduce their bias. The implication for the studies on the nudge is discussed.