A Comparison of Risk Selections

Abstract

Comparisons were made of the risk that subjects selected, both for themselves and for someone else, in a task situation involving physical harm and risk that was based on performance skill at a motor task. Subjects performed in pairs, one being designated the decision maker and the other the performer. The decision makers selected tasks for the performers to attempt on the Purdue Pegboard. Hazard (objective probability of failure) was measured for eight conditions of potential gain (monetary payoff) and of loss (electrical shock). Results indicated that subjects selected essentially the same risk for someone else as they selected for themselves. Based on the study, it therefore appears reasonable to generalize the results obtained from single-person risk-taking studies to the decision maker in multiperson risktaking situations.