Effects of “Framing” on measures of risk tolerance: Financial planners are not immune

Abstract

Prospect theory suggests that describing the objective risk inherent in a situation in terms of how much can be “gained” will lead to risk avoidance, whereas describing the same exact situation in terms of the potential “losses” to be suffered leads to risk-seeking behavior. This effect has been called “framing.” The present study investigated whether this bias occured among a professional group that deals with financial risk as part of their work. The results show that financial planners are not immune to the framing bias.