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Risk preferences and personality traits in children and adolescents

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  • Piovesan, Marco
  • Willadsen, Helene

Abstract

We elicit both risk preferences and personality traits of 340 children aged 7–16 and enrolled in Danish schools: we elicit risk preferences using a modified–and simplified–version of the Bomb Risk Elicitation Task, and to measure personality traits we use the HEXACO (parent-report) questionnaire. Our results show that, on average, children are risk averse, become more risk taking with age, and that girls are, on average, more risk averse than boys. On the contrary, personality traits are stable across ages, except for a slight decrease in Openness to Experience. Personality and risk preferences are not correlated either when looking at raw correlations or regressions, including controls. The results suggest that risk preferences and personality traits are complementary measures of individual heterogeneity of behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Piovesan, Marco & Willadsen, Helene, 2021. "Risk preferences and personality traits in children and adolescents," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 523-532.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:186:y:2021:i:c:p:523-532
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.04.011
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