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No effect of birth order on adult risk taking

Lejarraga, Tomas; Frey, Renato; Schnitzlein, Daniel D.; Hertwig, Ralph

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
2019
VL / 116 - BP / 6019 - EP / 6024
abstract
Does birth order shape people's propensity to take risks? Evidence is mixed. We used a three-pronged approach to investigate birthorder effects on risk taking. First, we examined the propensity to take risks as measured by a self-report questionnaire administered in the German Socio-Economic Panel, one of the largest and most comprehensive household surveys. Second, we drew on data from the Basel-Berlin Risk Study, one of the most exhaustive attempts to measure risk preference. This study administered 39 risk-taking measures, including a set of incentivized behavioral tasks. Finally, we considered the possibility that birth-order differences in risk taking are not reflected in survey responses and laboratory studies. We thus examined another source of behavioral data: the risky life decision to become an explorer or a revolutionary. Findings from these three qualitatively different sources of data and analytic methods point unanimously in the same direction: We found no birth-order effects on risk taking.

AccesS level

Green published, Bronze

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