Autistic adults, financial risk preference, and economic outcomes

Autistic adults lead challenging economic lives. We explore a sample composed of both autistic and non-autistic individuals to evaluate determinants of financial risk tolerance in the two groups, and whether risk attitudes are associated with selected economic outcomes. We measure risk preference through different tools: an assessment of participants’ decisions when faced with hypothetical scenarios, two psychometric measures of individuals’ self-assessment of their risk tolerance, and one measure of observed actual risky behavior. Results indicate that autistic individuals are more risk averse across most financial risk preference measures even when we control for other co-existing conditions such as psychological disorders and learning disabilities. They lack understanding of the concept of risk diversification. Although autistic individuals are less likely to be employed or to make financial investments, higher-risk propensities increase the likelihood of such and other economic outcomes across both groups of individuals. Financial and economic curricula addressing financial risk must be tailored for individuals with developmental disabilities.