Does self-control depletion affect risk attitudes?

A core prediction of recent “dual-self” models is that risk attitudes depend on self-control. While these models have received a lot of attention, empirical evidence regarding their predictions is lacking. We derive hypotheses from three prominent models for choices between risky monetary payoffs un...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean economic review Vol. 100; pp. 463 - 487
Main Authors Gerhardt, Holger, Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah, Willrodt, Jana
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.11.2017
Elsevier Science Publishers
Subjects
Dual-self models
Ego depletion
Experiment
Risk attitudes
Self-control
Risk attitudes
Self-control
Experiment
D03
Ego depletion
C91
D81
Dual-self models
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Summary:A core prediction of recent “dual-self” models is that risk attitudes depend on self-control. While these models have received a lot of attention, empirical evidence regarding their predictions is lacking. We derive hypotheses from three prominent models for choices between risky monetary payoffs under regular and reduced self-control. We test the hypotheses in a lab experiment, using a well-established ego depletion task to reduce self-control, and measuring risk attitudes via finely graduated choice lists. Manipulation checks document the effectiveness of the depletion task. We find no systematic evidence in favor of the theoretical predictions. In particular, depletion does not increase risk aversion.
ISSN:0014-2921
1873-572X
DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.09.004