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Risk taking, behavioral biases and genes: Results from 149 active investors

Author

Listed:
  • Anderson, Anders
  • Dreber, Anna
  • Vestman, Roine

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that there is genetic basis for economic behaviors, including preferences for risk taking. We correlate variation in risk taking and behavioral biases with two genetic polymorphisms related to the uptake of dopamine and serotonin (7R+ DRD4 and s/s 5-HTTLPR), hypothesizing that they are positively (negatively) related to risk taking. We use a small but detailed sample of active investors where we combine survey data with DNA samples and data from Swedish tax records that give us objective information about actual economic choices. We find a positive (negative) relationship between the dopamine (serotonin) gene and life expectancy bias, but no other significant correlations between the two genes and behaviors, including risk taking and measures of equity holdings. We acknowledge that our tests suffer from low power originating from the small sample size, which warrants some caution when interpreting these results.

Suggested Citation

  • Anderson, Anders & Dreber, Anna & Vestman, Roine, 2015. "Risk taking, behavioral biases and genes: Results from 149 active investors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 93-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:beexfi:v:6:y:2015:i:c:p:93-100
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbef.2015.04.002
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Abrahamson, Martin, 2016. "“Rookies to the stock market: A portrait of new shareholders”," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 565-576.
    2. Kumar, Satish & Rao, Sandeep & Goyal, Kirti & Goyal, Nisha, 2022. "Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance: A bibliometric overview," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    3. Anum Khan & Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik, 2022. "Measuring the role of neurotransmitters in investment decision: A proposed constructs," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 258-274, January.
    4. Francisco Molins & Fatmanur Sahin & Miguel Ángel Serrano, 2022. "The Genetics of Risk Aversion: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Heo, Wookjae & Grable, John E. & Rabbani, Abed G., 2018. "A test of the relevant association between utility theory and subjective risk tolerance: Introducing the Profit-to-Willingness ratio," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 84-88.
    6. Jinesh Jain & Nidhi Walia & Simarjeet Singh & Esha Jain, 2022. "Mapping the field of behavioural biases: a literature review using bibliometric analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 823-855, September.
    7. Gwen-Jirō Clochard & Aby Mbengue & Clément Mettling & Birane Diouf & Charlotte Faurie & Omar Sene & Emilie Chancerel & Erwan Guichoux & Guillaume Hollard & Michel Raymond & Marc Willinger, 2023. "The effect of the 7R allele at the DRD4 locus on risk tolerance is independent of background risk in Senegalese fishermen," Post-Print hal-03954770, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    DNA; Risk taking; Behavioral biases; Dopamine; Serotonin; Life expectancy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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