Choices in important domains of life, including health, fertility, finance, employment, and social relationships, rarely have consequences that can be anticipated perfectly. The degree of variability in possible outcomes is called risk. Risk tolerance—defined as the willingness to take risks, typically to obtain some reward—varies substantially across humans and has been actively studied in the behavioral and social sciences. An individual’s risk tolerance may vary across domains, but survey-based measures of general risk tolerance (e.g., “Would you describe yourself as someone who takes risks?”) have been found to be good all-around predictors of risky behaviors such as portfolio allocation, occupational choice, smoking, drinking alcohol, and starting one’s own business1–3.
