Procedure dependence in resource allocations: How focusing on resource or target affects variety-seeking.

= 4,152) provided evidence consistent with this procedure dependence hypothesis. We further demonstrate that the effect occurs because the allocation-by-target procedure encourages people to consider the differences between targets whereas the allocation-by-unit procedure induces people to focus more on each undifferentiated unit. As a result, allocation-by-target, relative to allocation-by-unit, leads to a lower variety-seeking, which manifests as a more concentrated distribution of the resource units across the targets. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).