Immediate Emotional States as Predictors of Risk Preferences

The interaction between emotions and cognitive processes has been one of the most investigated topics in last decades, with particular attention being paid to emotional influences in decision making. More recently, the processes by which people control and regulate their emotional states also became a topic of interest. The aim of the current study was to investigate how underlying immediate emotional states and communication of risk impact participants’ risk preferences for gambles. In one study we measured positive and negative immediate affective states and choice preferences under risk. Specifically, participants were presented with abstract monetary gambles in which they were required to choose between a probabilistic gain or loss and a certain option. We found that positive and negative emotional states as well as communication format of risk influenced behavioural patterns of preferences. Future research can build on these results and include emotion based parameters in decision making models.