This is Your Portfolio on Winter: Seasonal Affective Disorder and Risk Aversion in Financial Decision Making
Social Psychological and Personality Science, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 193-199
Posted: 21 Jul 2011 Last revised: 13 Feb 2012
Date Written: March 1, 2012
Abstract
This study found that people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) displayed financial risk aversion that varied across the seasons as a function of seasonally changing affect. The SAD-sufferers had significantly stronger preferences for safe choices during the winter than non-SAD-sufferers, and they did not differ from non-SAD-sufferers during the summer. The effect of SAD on risk aversion in the winter was mediated by depression.
Keywords: decision making, individual differences, seasonal variations, financial risk tolerance, seasonal depression, behavioral economics, economic behavior
JEL Classification: C90, D10, G11, H30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation