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Updated: May 1, 2026
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Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
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Fear, excitement, and financial risk-taking
Chan Jean Lee1, Eduardo B Andrade
1a Department of Marketing , KAIST College of Business , Seoul , South Korea.
Cognition & Emotion
|March 26, 2014
Summary
Fear can promote risk-taking when reframed as excitement, particularly in contexts like casino games, but may lead to risk aversion in financial investments. This highlights the role of context in emotional responses.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Fear is often associated with risk aversion.
- Contextual cues can significantly alter emotional interpretations and subsequent behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if fear can be reinterpreted as excitement.
- To determine if this reinterpretation influences risk-taking behavior.
- To examine the mediating role of excitement in the fear-risk-taking relationship.
Main Methods:
- Laboratory experiment with induced emotional states (fear vs. control).
- Participants completed a financial task framed as either a stock market investment or a casino game.
- Measured risk-taking behavior and self-reported excitement levels.
Main Results:
- Fear induced risk aversion in the stock market investment frame.
- Fear promoted risk-taking in the casino game frame.
- Excitement partially mediated the effect of fear on risk-taking behavior.
Conclusions:
- The impact of fear on risk-taking is context-dependent.
- Framing can transform fear's influence from risk aversion to risk-seeking.
- Excitement plays a crucial role in mediating the relationship between fear and risk-taking.
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