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Effects of stress on economic decision-making: Evidence from laboratory experiments

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  • Delaney, Liam
  • Fink, Gunther
  • Harmon, Colm

Abstract

The ways in which preferences respond to the varying stress of economic environments is a key question for behavioral economics and public policy. We conducted a laboratory experiment to investigate the effects of stress on financial decision making among individuals aged 50 and older. Using the cold pressor task as a physiological stressor, and a series of intelligence tests as cognitive stressors, we find that stress increases subjective discounting rates, has no effect on the degree of risk-aversion, and substantially lowers the effort individuals make to learn about financial decisions .

Suggested Citation

  • Delaney, Liam & Fink, Gunther & Harmon, Colm, 2014. "Effects of stress on economic decision-making: Evidence from laboratory experiments," Stirling Economics Discussion Papers 2014-02, University of Stirling, Division of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:stl:stledp:2014-02
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/19612
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Malvina Bondy & Sefi Roth & Lutz Sager, 2020. "Crime Is in the Air: The Contemporaneous Relationship between Air Pollution and Crime," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(3), pages 555-585.
    2. Choung, Youngjoo & Chatterjee, Swarn & Pak, Tae-Young, 2022. "Depression and financial planning horizon," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Mika Akesaka & Peter Eibich & Chie Hanaoka & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2023. "Temporal Instability of Risk Preference among the Poor: Evidence from Payday Cycles," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 68-99, October.
    4. Thomas Buser & Anna Dreber & Johanna Mollerstrom, 2017. "The impact of stress on tournament entry," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 20(2), pages 506-530, June.
    5. Maja Adena & Julian Harke, 2022. "COVID-19 and pro-sociality: How do donors respond to local pandemic severity, increased salience, and media coverage?," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(3), pages 824-844, June.
    6. Sooter, Nina M. & Brandon, Rajna Gibson & Ugazio, Giuseppe, 2024. "Honesty is predicted by moral values and economic incentives but is unaffected by acute stress," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    7. Thomas Buser & Anna Dreber & Johanna Mollerstrom, 2015. "Stress Reactions cannot explain the Gender Gap in Willingness to compete," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 15-059/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Preuss, Malte, 2021. "Intra-individual stability of two survey measures on forward-looking attitude," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 201-227.
    9. Vitt, Nicolai & James, Jonathan & Belot, Michèle & Vecchi, Martina, 2021. "Daily stressors and food choices: A lab experiment with low-SES mothers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    10. Kettlewell, Nathan, 2019. "Risk preference dynamics around life events," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 66-84.
    11. Haushofer, Johannes & Jain, Prachi & Musau, Abednego & Ndetei, David, 2021. "Stress may increase choice of sooner outcomes, but not temporal discounting," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 377-396.
    12. Belot, Michèle & James, Jonathan & Vecchi, Martina & Vitt, Nicolai, 2019. "Stress and Food Preferences: A Lab Experiment with Low-SES Mothers," IZA Discussion Papers 12674, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "The psychological toll of food insecurity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 618-630.
    14. Bos, Marieke & Le Coq, Chloé & van Santen, Peter, 2016. "Economic Scarcity and Consumers’ Credit Choice," Working Paper Series 329, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    stress; financial decisions; discounting; risk aversion; learning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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