Anchoring without scale distortion

The scale distortion theory of anchoring argues that people are influenced by a previously considered value, an anchor, because the anchor distorts the scale on which a subsequent judgment is made. The distortion of the scale is a momentary effect and it cannot persist even after consideration of a different value on the same scale. In the present study, participants were presented with anchors by comparing thirteen random numeric values on the same scale to thirteen different objects. Subsequent numeric estimates of objects’ attributes were influenced by the corresponding anchors even though the anchors were divided from the estimates by twelve questions pertaining to different values on the same scale. The numeric value considered immediately before the estimate did not have a considerable effect on the judgment. While the anchoring effect was robust, it was not caused by scale distortion. Other possible theories of the anchoring effect, such as the selective accessibility model, are compatible with the results.