Mindset to Gain? Framing Effects, Need for Chaos, and the Limits of "Burning It All Down"

Emerging scholarship suggests that willingness to engage in violent or other risky behavior relates to Need for Chaos--a trait-state combination reflecting disaffection with society and politics, independent of political identity and beliefs. While previous research links Need for Chaos to a stronger gain-seeking mentality, it remains unclear whether those higher in Need for Chaos respond differently to gain and loss frames. We use a framing experiment based on prospect theory to test whether Need for Chaos moderates decision making about two salient policy issues in the United States: the debt ceiling and government shutdown negotiations in US Congress in 2023. Results from both studies (n=2,704; n=3,002) suggest that individuals low in Need for Chaos are risk-averse toward gains but risk-seeking toward losses, whereas those high in Need for Chaos exhibit the opposite pattern, seeking risk when anticipating gains and avoiding risk when anticipating losses. Our findings add important nuance to existing research by demonstrating that individuals higher in Need for Chaos are not merely indifferent to framing; rather, they also systematically respond to gain and loss frames. This work underscores how individual differences may help to shape judgment and decision making, particularly in times of societal and political uncertainty.