Pill or bill? Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical approval of clinical trials
In clinical trials, incentivizing human research subjects with large amounts of money is often considered unethical, as it may coerce people to participate. This argument implies that people perceive rewards (i.e., incentives) independently of risks (i.e., probability of side-effects) or that they a...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Judgment and Decision Making |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.sjdm.org/19/190130/jdm190130.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797813899421024256 |
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| author | Janine Hoffart Benjamin Scheibehenne |
| author_facet | Janine Hoffart Benjamin Scheibehenne |
| author_sort | Janine Hoffart |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In clinical
trials, incentivizing human research subjects with large amounts of money is
often considered unethical, as it may coerce people to participate. This
argument implies that people perceive rewards (i.e., incentives) independently
of risks (i.e., probability of side-effects) or that they assume that larger
rewards are associated with lower risks. However, past research on risk
perception indicates that people associate higher rewards with higher risks. To
test whether people treat incentives in clinical trials as a proxy for risk, we
conducted an online experiment (N = 483) in which people estimated the
riskiness of hypothetical clinical trials. We manipulated the monetary
incentives that participants of the clinical trials were offered. The results
show that people expect more side effects if the monetary incentives for
participation are higher. Results further show that the majority of
participants were more likely to ethically approve a trial if it offered a high
monetary incentive. In contrast to existing ethical guidelines these results
suggest that paying large rewards may be less problematic because people
implicitly associate them with higher risk and because they trade-off risks and
financial benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:58:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb7c7a22750b46e58735d0a23d23e1bf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1930-2975 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:58:28Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Judgment and Decision Making |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb7c7a22750b46e58735d0a23d23e1bf2023-06-02T00:08:54ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752019-03-01142130134Pill or bill? Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical approval of clinical trialsJanine HoffartBenjamin ScheibehenneIn clinical trials, incentivizing human research subjects with large amounts of money is often considered unethical, as it may coerce people to participate. This argument implies that people perceive rewards (i.e., incentives) independently of risks (i.e., probability of side-effects) or that they assume that larger rewards are associated with lower risks. However, past research on risk perception indicates that people associate higher rewards with higher risks. To test whether people treat incentives in clinical trials as a proxy for risk, we conducted an online experiment (N = 483) in which people estimated the riskiness of hypothetical clinical trials. We manipulated the monetary incentives that participants of the clinical trials were offered. The results show that people expect more side effects if the monetary incentives for participation are higher. Results further show that the majority of participants were more likely to ethically approve a trial if it offered a high monetary incentive. In contrast to existing ethical guidelines these results suggest that paying large rewards may be less problematic because people implicitly associate them with higher risk and because they trade-off risks and financial benefits.http://journal.sjdm.org/19/190130/jdm190130.pdfincentives coercion risk-reward heuristicNAKeywords |
| spellingShingle | Janine Hoffart Benjamin Scheibehenne Pill or bill? Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical approval of clinical trials Judgment and Decision Making incentives coercion risk-reward heuristicNAKeywords |
| title | Pill or bill?
Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical
approval of clinical trials |
| title_full | Pill or bill?
Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical
approval of clinical trials |
| title_fullStr | Pill or bill?
Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical
approval of clinical trials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pill or bill?
Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical
approval of clinical trials |
| title_short | Pill or bill?
Influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical
approval of clinical trials |
| title_sort | pill or bill influence of monetary incentives on the perceived riskiness and the ethical approval of clinical trials |
| topic | incentives coercion risk-reward heuristicNAKeywords |
| url | http://journal.sjdm.org/19/190130/jdm190130.pdf |
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