Social comparison influences risky choices, leading to unexpected risk-averse behavior.
The study looked at how people make risky choices when comparing themselves to others. Participants had to pick between different lotteries with only good outcomes. The social comparison was done in three ways: when the other person got more, less, or the same as them. The results showed that people were more careful with risks when the other person got less than them, compared to when they got more or the same. This goes against what was expected based on previous theories.