This study examines how momentary self-worth and gain vs. loss framing influence the amount of risk people take when making decisions for themselves. We ran a preliminary study, in which participants first recalled a memory that either boosts, lowers, or has a neutral effect on their sense of self-worth. Then, they chose between a riskless or risky option. This decision was presented in two versions that have equal expected outcomes across conditions, but where one version was framed in terms of gaining monetary value and the other was framed in terms of losing monetary value (Tversky &Kahneman, 1981). Across 372 participants, we found that people tended to chose the risky(riskless) option when the decision was presented as a potential loss(gain). We also found that lower momentary self-worth may lead to more cautious choices within loss framing. While this effect was not large, is provides early insight into how self-worth processes might shape risk sensitivity. We are currently running a new study, a more expanded version of what we have already distributed, that we hope shows similar and significant results.
