Shifting Selves and Decision Making: The Effects of Self-Construal Priming on Consumer Risk-Taking

Abstract

This research illustrates how risk domain moderates the effects of priming the interdependent self versus the independent self on consumers' risk-taking. Experiment 1 showed that individuals whose interdependent selves were activated were more risk-seeking in their financial choices and less risk-seeking in their social choices than were those whose independent selves were activated. The size of the consumer's social network mediated these effects. Experiment 2 replicated these results using audiovisual movie clips as manipulations. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.