Author(s)

Xiao Wang^*

Academy of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

A large number of studies have found that the ambient temperature shows its inadvertent impact on human’s mind and behaviors. There is a reason to believe that risk decision-making, a human advanced cognitive function, will also be affected by the temperature and lead to judgment bias. In this study, the relationship between ambient temperature and risk taking was discussed by manipulating ambient temperature in the laboratory. Participants were instructed to complete the risk taking test (the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, BART) on the computer in three different ambient temperature environments (Hot/Cold/Comfortable). Results indicate that: when ambient temperature is high, the individual will pursue high-risk and high-yield options, and when the ambient temperature is low, the individual tends to be conservative facing risk options.

Ambient Temperature, Risk Taking, BART

Wang, X. (2017) An Empirical Study of the Impacts of Ambient Temperature on Risk Taking. Psychology, 8, 1053-1062. doi: 10.4236/psych.2017.87069.