Framing to reduce present bias in infrastructure design intentions

• Published in: iScience Vol. 25; no. 3; p. 103954
• Main Authors: Hancock, Patrick I., Klotz, Leidy, Shealy, Tripp, Johnson, Eric J., Weber, Elke U., Stenger, Katelyn, Vuppuluri, Richa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 18-03-2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Civil engineering; Construction engineering; Interdisciplinary application studies; Sociology; Interdisciplinary application studies; Sociology; Civil engineering; Construction engineering
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103954

Infrastructure professionals (N = 261) were randomly assigned to either a future or present-framed project description and asked to recommend design attributes for an infrastructure project. The future-framed condition led professionals to propose a significantly longer infrastructure design life, useful life to the community, and acceptable return on financial investment. The findings suggest a straightforward and inexpensive way to lessen present bias in various design contexts
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•Designers were temporally primed prior to engaging in a design decision scenario•The prime was delivered through word tense changes to a request for proposal•The future orientation significantly improved the sustainability of design concepts•Results indicate present bias can be reduced through changes to design documents
Civil engineering; Construction engineering; Interdisciplinary application studies; Sociology