Management summary research study “Do informal reasoning fallacies really shape decisions? Experimental evidence.”

An experiment was designed to study the relationship between the presence of informal reasoning fallacies and a consequent decision. Having conducted paired comparisons of distributions from 383 participants, we have found some support for the hypothesis that informal reasoning fallacies affect decision-making more substantially than non-fallacious reasoning—strong support in the case of a slippery slope, weak in that of appeal to fear, anecdotal evidence argument defying evaluation.

Target groups of stakeholders: Anyone interested in decision-making, negotiation, rationality, argumentation.

Citation: Vrbová, L., Jiřinová, K., Helman, K., & Lorencová, H. (2021). Do informal reasoning fallacies really shape decisions? Experimental evidence. Rationality and Society, 33(4), 448-479, https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463121103365