Advice vs. choice

I do not consider this to be a confirmed result, still the basic mechanism is of interest, especially to analyses of complacency:

Despite the near universality of the maxim that one should treat others as one ought to be treated, even well-intended advisers often advise others to act differently than they choose for themselves. We review several psychological factors that contribute to biased advice. Absent pecuniary motives to the contrary, advice tends to be paternalistically biased in favor of caution. Policies that would intuitively promote quality advice — such as making advisers accountable, taking advice from advisers who value the relationship, or having advisers disclose potential conflicts of interest — can perversely lower the quality of advice.

That is from a paper by Jason Dana and Daylian M. Cain, via Rolf Degen.  Here is further commentary from Degen.

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