Thinking in Chinese vs. Thinking in English: Social Preference and Risk Attitudes of Multicultural Minds

This paper investigates whether language priming activates different cultural identities and norms associated with the language communicated with respect to social preference and risk attitudes. Our contribution is on identifying the conditions where there will be language priming effects. We conduct economic games with bilingual subjects using Chinese and English as instructions. It is found that language priming affects social preference, but only in context involving strategic interactions. In social preference games involving strategic interactions, e.g., the trust game, subjects in the Chinese treatment are more trusting and trustworthy. In individual choice games, such as the dictator game, there is no treatment difference. Further, we also find that language priming affects risk attitudes. Subjects in the Chinese treatment prefer to pick Chinese lucky numbers in Mark Six lottery. These findings suggest that the effect of language priming is context dependent.language, bilingual, biculture, social preference, risk attitudes

Sense of Control Affects Investment Behavior

Preference for control affects investment behavior. Participants of laboratory experiments invest different amount of money in a risky asset when face with two different methods of control which have identical payoff structure and probability distribution, but provide different sense of control. Preference for controlling and not controlling are both observed. Participants increase their investment when their preferred method of control is used. Participants who prefer to control more reduce their investment more strongly when face with less control. Preference for control has larger effect on investment behavior when participants are induced to have a comparative mindset rather than non-comparative mindset.Preference for control, sense of control, risk attitudes, illusion of control, source preference, portfolio choice, behavioral finance, comparative mindset, non-comparative mindset

Sense of control affects investment behavior

Preference for control affects investment behavior. Participants of laboratory experiments invest different amount of money in a risky asset when face with two different methods of control which have identical payoff structure and probability distribution, but provide different sense of control. Preference for controlling and not controlling are both observed. Participants increase their investment when their preferred method of control is used. Participants who prefer to control more reduce their investment more strongly when face with less control. Preference for control has larger effect on investment behavior when participants are induced to have a comparative mindset rather than non-comparative mindset

Tri-Direct CP in the Littlest Seesaw Playground

We discuss spontaneously broken CP symmetry in two right-handed neutrino models based on the idea of having a {\it different residual flavour symmetry}, together with a {\it different residual CP symmetry}, associated with each of the two right-handed neutrinos. The charged lepton sector also has a {\it different residual flavour symmetry}. In such a {\it tri-direct CP approach}, we show that the combination of the three residual flavour and two residual CP symmetries provides a new way of fixing the parameters. To illustrate the approach, we revisit the Littlest Seesaw (LSS) model based on $S_4$ and then propose new variants which have not so far appeared in the literature, with different predictions for each variant. We analyse numerically the predictions of the new variants, and then propose an explicit model which can realise one of the successful benchmark points, based on the atmospheric flavon vacuum alignment $(1, \omega^2 , \omega)$ and the solar flavon vacuum alignment $(1, -7/2, -7/2 )$.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figure

Golden Littlest Seesaw

We propose and analyse a new class of Littlest Seesaw models, with two right-handed neutrinos in their diagonal mass basis, based on preserving the first column of the Golden Ratio mixing matrix. We perform an exhaustive analysis of all possible remnant symmetries of the group $A_5$ which can be used to enforce various vacuum alignments for the flavon controlling solar mixing, for two simple cases of the atmospheric flavon vacuum alignment. The solar and atmospheric flavon vacuum alignments are enforced by {\em different} remnant symmetries. We examine the phenomenological viability of each of the possible Littlest Seesaw alignments in $A_5$, which preserve the first column of the Golden ratio mixing matrix, using figures and extensive tables of benchmark points and comparing our predictions to a recent global analysis of neutrino data. We also repeat the analysis for an alternative form of Golden Ratio mixing matrix.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure