GROUP RISK TAKING UNDER COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE CONDITIONS IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN1

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present investigation had three major purposes: (1) to compare the magnitude of risky shifts obtained under conditions of noncompetition and competition; (2) to determine whether the consistent risky‐shift effects observed in adults would also be found in young children; and (3) to examine the rationality or irrationality of enhanced risk taking in groups. With risks and payoffs based on monetary gain and loss for problem‐solving performance, groups of college students and elementary school children were assigned to competitive, noncompetitive, and control conditions. The major results were as follows: (1) for adults, noncompetitive group decision yielded risky shifts three to five times greater than were obtained in the conditions of competition; (2) the evidence for the risky‐shift phenomenon in children was quite weak for both the noncompetitive and competitive conditions; and (3) decision outcomes (problem‐solving performance) suggested that the risky‐shift effect may be more rational than irrational. On the whole, the results were more consistent with a “responsibility‐diffusion” than with a “social value” interpretation of group risk‐taking behavior.

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