Individuals often encounter risk throughout their lives. They are faced with decisions that do not have guaranteed outcomes but are aware of the probabilities, a coinflip for instance. How each...Show moreIndividuals often encounter risk throughout their lives. They are faced with decisions that do not have guaranteed outcomes but are aware of the probabilities, a coinflip for instance. How each person reacts to the outcomes of their choices also contributes to how these decisions will affect their lives. Past literature focused mostly on how people make decisions under risk, this paper will look to explore how the risk preferences of individuals affect their outcome satisfaction. Participants (N=89) took part in a gambling task; the task was structured into 2 conditions. The first condition, the free choice condition, presented participants with a gamble between a safe option that had a guaranteed sum and a risky option, participants were not informed of the outcome. The first condition aimed to assess the risk profile of the participants. The second condition, the manipulation condition, also presented two options to the participants; however, this time, they were told their choice could be randomly reversed. Additionally, in the manipulation condition, after each decision, the participants were asked to report their satisfaction with the outcome. The second condition aimed to understand how the risk profile of the participants related to their outcome satisfaction. Additionally, the manipulation condition ensured that risk-averse participants also experienced risky decisions and their outcomes. The findings of this study are that risk-averse participants were more satisfied with the outcome of their choices than risk-seeking participants. Furthermore, the outcome of each trial was not a significant mediator between risk attitudes and outcome satisfaction.Show less
