Examining the associations between socioeconomic status and preferences for risk and ambiguity

Researchers have been interested in studying the link between socioeconomic status and risk-taking behavior; however, the link between these two has shown mixed results. Some researchers find more risk aversion, while others find less risk aversion. All studies examining this relationship have only looked at one type of uncertainty, that being risk (i.e., probability known), but have not studied this relationship under conditions of ambiguity (probability unknown). This pre-registered study recruited 1,000 participants and gave them a 130-question risk and ambiguity task. Overall, while there are claims that SES is an important predictor of risk preferences, we find no evidence to suggest that hypothetical risk or ambiguity measures are linked to socioeconomic status.