Risk Taking with Variable Resources: a Field and a Laboratory Experiment

Abstract

Abstract Background: Theoretical predictions and experimental findings concerning the relationship between risk taking and accumulated resources are contradictory. In contrast to laboratory experiments, studies conducted in an ecologically valid environment allow for the evaluation of available resources and the motivational impact of potentially serious consequences for risk taking. Objective: Our aim was to (i) examine the influence of available resources on risk taking in an ecologically valid field experiment; and (ii) to compare “real life” and laboratory experiments assessing risk taking. Method: To reproduce real decisions involving real stakes, the students were asked to choose between exam questions representing different levels of difficulty. Available resources of the students were defined as the amount of points accumulated during the semester. In parallel, the laboratory experiments were conducted to assess risk taking in a laboratory setting. Results: The two experimental setups yielded different results. In the field experiment, risk taking decreased with the available resources, whereas the laboratory experiments suggested an inverse tendency. The influence of contextual effects was only prominent in the field experiment.Conclusion: The results of the field experiment support the variable risk preference model, whereas the risk-sensitivity theory could only be validated in the laboratory setting.