Estimating the standard deviation of professors' worth: The effects of frame and presentation order in utility analysis

This study examined the effects of two cognitively oriented dimensions, framing and anchoring, on estimates of the standard deviation of the overall worth (SDy) of full professors in organizational behaviour. The estimates were produced using the Schmidt et al . (1979) procedure in utility analysis. In order to manipulate the framing variable, half of the subjects were presented the estimation task positively, in terms of potentially acquiring a new professor (in order to fill a vacancy); the remaining half were presented a negatively framed task, in terms of potentially losing a professor (thereby creating a vacancy). Different orders of eliciting percentile estimates provided the anchoring manipulations. A significant main effect for framing was obtained. Insignificant effects were found for both the ordering variable and its interaction with framing. Based on previous literature and the current study, it can be concluded that the Schmidt et al . procedure is highly susceptible to contextual effects and a multiplicity of estimates of SDy should be expected. Alternative techniques for estimating SDy should be considered by future researchers.