The determinants of risk tolerance: A behavioural analysis

Abstract

The traditional perspective of financial theory suggests an implicit rationality on decision making. Historically, researches have revolved around demographic, social and economic heuristics, thus neglecting the emotional, cognitive and behavioral suppositions, related to financial decision making. In this sense, this study aims to evaluate which are the determining factors for risk tolerance. So, we carried out a survey on 815 individuals residing in Santa Maria, Julio de Castilhos and Cruz Alta, Brazil. Afterwards, we performed a CFA and, eventually, a regression analysis. Generally and consistently, the suppositions for rationality were refuted, though consistent to the Prospect Theory, validating the numerous studies that demonstrate the violation of the rationality suppositions. The heuristics which are traditionally used in order to determine the level of risk tolerance have not shown to be significant in this research. The cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions of decision making have shown to be significant.