Genetic Factors of Individual Differences in Decision Making in Economic Behavior: A Japanese Twin Study using the Allais Problem

摘要: Why does decision making differ among individuals? People sometimes make seemingly inconsistent decisions with lower expected (monetary) utility even when objective information of probabilities and rewards are provided. It is noteworthy, however, that a certain proportion people do not provide anomalous responses, choosing the alternatives higher utility, thus appearing to be more “rational”. We investigated genetic environmental influences on these types individual differences in using classical Allais problem task. Participants were 1,199 Japanese adult twins aged 20–47. Univariate analysis revealed approximately third response variance was explained by factors rest unique individuals measurement error. The factor shared between families did contribute variance. Subsequent multivariate clarified theory associated general intelligence association largely mediated same factor. approach mechanism underlying two “rational” from perspective correlations cognitive abilities.