JUDGING RISK BEHAVIOR AND RISK PREFERENCE - THE ROLE OF THE EVALUATIVE CONNOTATION OF RISK TERMS

Two experiments investigate the impact of the evaluative connotation o f risk terms on the judgment of risk behaviour and on risk preference. In the first experiment we focus on (1) the evaluation congruence of the risk terms with a general risk norm and (2) with subjects' individ ual risk preference, and its effects on the extremity of judgments of risk behaviour. In the second experiment we address (3) the effects of evaluative connotation of risk terms on risk preference. In the first experiment subjects were presented with four decision problems, each with a risky and a cautious decision option, and were required to judg e options. Results showed that the judged discrepancy between the risk y and cautious option was larger on scales which were evaluatively con gruent with the general risk norm for that specific decision problem o r with subjects' individual preference. More specificly, in decision p roblems for which there was considerable consensus about the risk-norm judgments were more extreme on scales which were congruent with the r isk norm, in those problems lacking a clear-cut risk-norm judgments we re more extreme on scales congruent with subjects' individual risk pre ference. In the second experiment we studied the reverse relation betw een the evaluative connotation of risk terms and risk preference. This experiment demonstrates that using evaluatively biased risk terms can affect risk preference. Using terms which imply a positive evaluation of risk-taking and a negative evaluation of risk avoidance led to inc reased risk preference, and vice versa. Results are discussed in the c ontext of accentuation theory.