Increased social distance makes people more risk-neutral

Individuals are consistently observed to be risk-averse over gains and risk-seeking over losses. This study examined whether increased social distance would change these behavioral patterns. To test our hypothesis, social distance was manipulated by asking the participants to make decisions either f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of social psychology 2017-07, Vol.157 (4), p.502-512
Main Authors: Sun, Qingzhou, Liu, Yongfang, Zhang, Huanren, Lu, Jingyi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavior change
Beneficiaries
Decision makers
Decision Making
Experiments
Female
Gain/loss domain
Humans
Male
Risk
risk preference
Risk preferences
Risk-Taking
Social change
Social Distance
Social research
Young Adult
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Summary:Individuals are consistently observed to be risk-averse over gains and risk-seeking over losses. This study examined whether increased social distance would change these behavioral patterns. To test our hypothesis, social distance was manipulated by asking the participants to make decisions either for themselves or for another person (Experiment 1), either for a known person or for an unknown person (Experiment 2), and either for a close friend or for a distant friend (Experiment 3). The results of Experiments 1 and 3 showed that increased social distance made people more risk-neutral, and such an effect was stronger in the gain domain than in the loss domain. However, the effect of social distance was not observed in Experiment 2. These findings suggest that risk preferences are influenced by the social distance between decision makers and beneficiaries.
ISSN:0022-4545
1940-1183
DOI:10.1080/00224545.2016.1242471