THE TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? has spilled the beans on people鈥檚 risk-taking behaviour. Or rather, their lack of it. It turns out we are not natural gamblers 鈥� if we were, the show鈥檚 producers would be shelling out far more money than they do.
Gauthier Lanot of Queen鈥檚 University in Belfast and his team analysed the behaviour of 515 participants in the UK. Players face a sequence of multiple-choice questions and keep going until they answer wrongly. A player鈥檚 potential winnings double at each stage, but they also face greater and greater losses 鈥� and hence a temptation to quit while ahead.
鈥淢ore contestants would have won a million had they gambled more鈥�
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Only three of the 515 went all the way to win 拢1 million. In general, participants were so risk-averse that roughly two-thirds quit while they were winning, while only one-third ended the game by gambling on a question and getting it wrong.
The analysis shows that more people would have won a million 鈥� and contestants would have taken home more overall 鈥� had they gambled more. But some would have lost huge amounts, says Lanot. 鈥淢ost people are cautious and worry a lot about losses.鈥�
