Judging risk behaviour and risk preference: the role of the evaluative connotation of risk terms.

Two experiments investigated the impact of the evaluative connotation of risk terms on the judgment of risk behavior and on risk preference. Exp 1 focused on the evaluation congruence of the risk terms with a general risk norm and with Ss' individual risk preference, and its effects on the extremity of judgments of risk behavior. Exp 2 addressed the effects of evaluative connotation of risk terms on risk preference. In Exp 1, 121 university students were presented with 4 decision problems, each with a risky and a cautious decision option, and were required to judge options. Results of Exp 1 show that the judged discrepancy between the risky and cautious option was larger on scales which were evaluatively congruent with the general risk norm for that specific decision problem or with Ss' individual preference. Exp 2 with 155 university students demonstrated that using evaluatively biased risk terms can affect risk preference.