Measuring risk aversion, prudence, and temperance under cognitive load

This study investigated how cognitive load influences risk aversion, prudence, and temperance. Based on the dual system theory, cognitive load induces the use of heuristics for risky choices through activating “intuitive” System 1 over “reasoning” System 2. We expected the use of heuristics to increase the influence of behavioral biases. Consistent with this reasoning, we observed that prudent neutral choices increased, which is related to behavioral bias in our experimental setting. However, we cannot obtain this observation for risk aversion and temperance because their choices are too easy or difficult. Our findings suggest that decision-making may be biased by the influence of limited cognitive resources when decision-making is related to prudence.