goodenomics™

The evidence

The default effect: when doing nothing is the choice

A form has to start somewhere. Either the box is ticked or it is not, and whichever way it starts, many people leave it as it is. That is the default effect. It matters most where the question is large and easy to put off: a pension, an organ donor card, a place on an evacuation bus.

A scene from The Gate, the journey where the game asks this question.
A scene from the game, as it is drawn: one handwritten line at a time.

The default effect

Going along with whatever happens if you do nothing, even on a question that matters.

What the study found

In an online experiment, 161 people were asked whether they would be organ donors. Each saw one of three forms. When they had to tick a box to become a donor, 42% agreed. When they were donors unless they ticked a box, 82% stayed donors. Made to choose, with no box ticked either way, 79% agreed.

Source: Johnson, E. J., & Goldstein, D. (2003). Do defaults save lives? Science 302(5649), 1338-1339. doi.org/10.1126/science.1091721

How to read this

These are the answers of particular people, asked in a particular way, at a particular time. A share of people is not a verdict: it tells you what they answered, not what is right.

Where the game asks it

The Gate (Who decides for them?). The game’s versions with family, age, consent and combined pressures are new comparisons written for it. They are not copies of the experiments, and no population percentages are claimed for them.

Play The Gate Free. No account. Your place is saved on your device.

More evidence