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Decision making under uncertainty: the relation between economic preferences and psychological personality traits

Author

Listed:
  • David Schröder

    (University of London)

  • Gail Gilboa Freedman

    (IDC Herzliya)

Abstract

Both economists and psychologists are interested in understanding decision making under uncertainty. Yet, they rely on different concepts to analyse human behaviour: economists use economic preference parameters rooted in utility theory, while psychologists use personality traits to describe responses to uncertain situations. Using a large sample of university students, this study examines and contrasts five economic preference parameters and six psychological personality traits that are commonly used to study individuals’ attitudes towards uncertainty. A novelty of this paper is including both the economic concept of ambiguity aversion as well as the personality trait of ambiguity intolerance. We find that standard economic preference measures based on incentivized choice tasks seem to capture rather different characteristics than psychological personality traits. In contrast, economic preference measures obtained from self-assessment questions appear more related to personality traits, especially ambiguity intolerance.

Suggested Citation

  • David Schröder & Gail Gilboa Freedman, 2020. "Decision making under uncertainty: the relation between economic preferences and psychological personality traits," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 89(1), pages 61-83, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:theord:v:89:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11238-019-09742-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11238-019-09742-3
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    1. Milos Borozan & Loreta Cannito & Barbara Luppi, 2022. "A tale of two ambiguities: A conceptual overview of findings from economics and psychology," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 6(S1), pages 11-21, July.
    2. Thomas Meissner & Xavier Gassmann & Corinne Faure & Joachim Schleich, 2023. "Individual characteristics associated with risk and time preferences: A multi country representative survey," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 77-107, February.

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