초록/요약

Individual financial decision making is known to be associated with each decision maker’s risk preference. In general, risk preference has been measured either as a stated preference or as a revealed preference. While each assessment method has its own strengths and weaknesses, little research has been conducted to determine the level of association between these two measurement techniques. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence regarding the degree of association between stated and revealed risk-preference assessments. In addition, the extent to which people under- or over-state their preference for financial risk was evaluated by estimating how risk-preference assessment congruency is associated with risk-taking behavior. Using a survey with 534 adults, results from the present study suggest that while scores from stated and revealed financial risk-preference tests are not perfectly fungible, for over one third of individuals, there appears to be congruency between what is stated and what is revealed. For those who exhibit less preference congruency, differences do not appear to be related to risk-taking behavior. A financial decision maker’s revealed risk preference and the same person’s stated risk preference are related to financial risk-taking behavior. This finding suggests that the choice of one measurement technique over another by researchers, policy makers, and investors should not necessarily be made with an assumption that one assessment procedure is better than the other. What may be more important is understanding what is needed in the context of the risky decision being faced by a decision maker, be it a measure of choice or a measure of willingness.