Psychology Commons^™

Motivation & Loss Aversion In The Health Savings Account Paradigm, Michael Holtje

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This investigation examined the role of “loss aversion” and consumers’ motivational orientations in the context of healthcare purchasing under the individual account paradigm and the defined benefit (insurance) paradigm. Specifically, this dissertation investigated (1) whether Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) encourage more prudent health care spending compared to traditional health insurance plans and (2) the impact of individuals' motivational preferences (either towards “gains” or towards “losses”) between decision tasks under each type of health plan.

Three experiments varied the type of healthcare plan that consumers had and the manner in which they received information (either as a “gain” or “loss”). The …