Does Adult Attachment Predict Economic Risk-Taking?

Risk and uncertainty are present in many of the daily decisions we make. In order to understand risk, one must understand its determinants. Previous research has looked at many demographic factors that influence risk, but this study specifically focuses on connecting economic risk-taking to adult attachment. Adult attachment is the emotional bond an individual has to someone who cares for them, in this case, a romantic partner. The current study used correlational and experimental methods to explore attachment’s influence on risk. US MTURK participants were randomly assigned to either a security or neutral priming condition and answered questions from the Experience in Close Relationships-Short (ECR-12) questionnaire to assess anxiety and avoidance, the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) to assess personality, baseline risk questions about general, financial, and health risk, two financial risk tasks, and demographic questions. After conducting Pearson’s correlational analyses and simple linear regressions, I found that individuals higher in attachment anxiety reported greater willingness to take financial risks and that there was evidence consistent with the fact that baseline risk is the mediator between anxiety and risk-taking. Additionally, while there was no main effect of the security priming, there was a three-way interaction present between security priming, anxiety, and avoidance. These findings are important as they provide evidence that attachment can influence risk-taking, which helps better understand what forms one’s risk-taking behaviors.