Symposium: Risk tolerance

Risk tolerance, or the willingness to take risks to obtain rewards, is a fundamental parameter in a wide range of theories in economics, finance, and behavioral decision theory. Different measures of risk preferences have... [ view full abstract ]

Risk tolerance, or the willingness to take risks to obtain rewards, is a fundamental parameter in a wide range of theories in economics, finance, and behavioral decision theory. Different measures of risk preferences have previously been linked to real-world behaviors such as portfolio allocation, occupational choice, as well as health behaviors such as smoking, exercise, alcohol and drug use. General risk tolerance has been found to be moderately heritable in twin studies—with heritability estimates ranging from 20% to 60%. Yet, little is known about the molecular genetic architecture of risk tolerance and related risky behaviors. Our symposium presents novel evidence on four related questions:

1) How are different measures of risk tolerance related on a phenotypic level? Is there a general factor of risk preference, r—akin to g, the general factor of intelligence—that complements domain- and situation-specific dimensions?

2) Do different phenotypic measures of risk taking share a common genetic architecture?

3) Is it possible to identify specific, replicable genetic associations for risk tolerance and risky behaviors with currently available GWAS sample sizes?

4) How are risk tolerance and risky behaviors linked to mental and physical health?