The Relationship Between Economic Preferences and Psychological Personality Measures

Anke Becker, Thomas Deckers, Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk and Fabian Kosse
Additional contact information
Anke Becker: Department of Economics, and
Thomas Deckers: Department of Economics, and

Annual Review of Economics, 2012, vol. 4, issue 1, 453-478

Abstract: Although both economists and psychologists seek to identify determinants of heterogeneity in behavior, they use different concepts to capture them. In this review, we first analyze the extent to which economic preferences and psychological concepts of personality, such as the Big Five and locus of control, are related. We analyze data from incentivized laboratory experiments and representative samples and find only low degrees of association between economic preferences and personality. We then regress life outcomes (such as labor market success, health status, and life satisfaction) simultaneously on preference and personality measures. The analysis reveals that the two concepts are rather complementary when it comes to explaining heterogeneity in important life outcomes and behavior.

Keywords: risk preference; time preference; social preferences; locus of control; Big Five (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D01 D80 D90 I00 J30 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (344)

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Working Paper: The Relationship between Economic Preferences and Psychological Personality Measures (2012)
Working Paper: The Relationship Between Economic Preferences and Psychological Personality Measures (2012)
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