Behind Bad Decisions

Consider this hypothetical question posed in the paper:

A. If you die in an auto accident, your heart will be used to save another person's life. In addition, if you are ever in need of a heart transplant, there will be a 90 percent chance that you will get the heart.

B. If you die in an auto accident, you will be buried with your heart in your body. In addition, if you are ever in need of a heart transplant, there will be a 45 percent chance that you will get the heart.

Which would you prefer? Most people choose Option A—the benefits of the tradeoff are quite clear. Yet the U.S. government, yielding to what psychologists term omissions bias, the "irrational preference for harms of omission over harms of action," follows an organ-donation program that favors Option B.

Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge has a Q&A with Max Bazerman on looking behind bad decisions.