Preference Reversals Without the Independence Axiom
The preference reversal phenomenon was believed to be inconsistent with the ransitivity axiom of decision theory. However, recent papers have demonstrated that previously observed preference reversals could be explained by subject violations of the independence axiom or the compound lottery axiom. The present paper reports the results of experiments in which a substantial proportion of subject responses violate the asymmetry axiom. These results are inconsistent with expected utility theory and its generalizations.