Risk seeking or risk averse? Phenomenology and perception

We question if risk phenomenology revealed by money expenditure corresponds to the subjective perception of risk. And if so, does that properly identify individual risk aversion propensity. We set two theoretical decision rules in terms of minimizing or maximizing risk, respectively, for every given return, and measure their adherence to efficient Behaviors. Our experiments are conducted with 690 individual subjects, based on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) with Skin Conductance Response (SCR) measurement. The efficiency of decision rules is assessed through two perspectives: either money or a subjective value obtained by weighting money with a function of SCR. Risk is calculated by four formulas that are typically used by the financial industry. When observed through the perspective of money, irrespective of the formula used to calculate the risk, we find dominance of risk seeking behaviors. Conversely, the same individuals appear risk averse when measurements include subjective value, and risk is modeled by standard deviation. These results are consistent for sub-groups of individuals, specified by gender, age, education and profession. Implications are severe, indicating individuals’ unawareness of behavior under risk.