As Sihle went shopping, she hoped she would stick
to her long shopping list, she just couldn’t afford
to descend deeper into debt, into budgetary woes.
She couldn’t allow her emotions to drive her conduct or choices,
or rather that’s how she cautioned herself as she entered the mall,
but once inside: overconfidence, fear and loss aversion seized her.
She was overconfident she had enough money to buy more, she feared
that if she didn’t grab items ‘on special’ (not on her list), she would lose
out and regret, hence she purchased based on loss aversion, not ba
re facts.