Abstract The Choice Shift Phenomenon is the observed tendency of individuals, as a result of group consultations, to consistently adopt or recommend, given the specific dilemma situation, more risky or cautious decision alternatives. This polarization process has received both affective and cognitive explanations. In this study, a laboratory experiment was conducted to examine the phenomenon in audit situations. Also manipulated within the experiment were four other environmental factors -- communication channel, advisory versus decisive subject capacity, audit client size, and accounting materiality. While each variable influenced the participants' decisions, only limited practical support was detected for their influence on shifting. The results indicated that the intercell variability of decisions significantly decreased as a function of group discussions also.
Reckers et al. (Wed,) studied this question.