Article (Journal/Review)
Fear, excitement, and financial risk-taking
Fecha
2015-01-02Registro en:
0957-1787 / 1878-4356
10.1080/02699931.2014.898611
000344062000013
Lee, Chan Jean/G-7718-2012
Autor
Lee, Chan Jean
Andrade, Eduardo Bittencourt
Institución
Resumen
Can fear trigger risk-taking? In this paper, we assess whether fear can be reinterpreted as a state of excitement as a result of contextual cues and promote, rather than discourage, risk-taking. In a laboratory experiment, the participants' emotional states were induced (fear vs. control), followed by a purportedly unrelated financial task. The task was framed as either a stock market investment or an exciting casino game. Our results showed that incidental fear (vs. control) induced risk-averse behaviour when the task was framed as a stock investment decision. However, fear encouraged risk-taking when the very same task was framed as an exciting casino game. The impact of fear on risk-taking was partially mediated by the excitement felt during the financial task.