# SOEP 5: Risk Aversion Scale
(Richter, Rohrer, Metzing, Nestler, Weinhardt & Schupp, 2017)

<b>Summary</b> <br>
This is an implementation of the Risk Aversion Scale from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP5). 
The SOEP Survey Papers are available at https://www.diw.de/soepsurveypapers

The global and dimension-specific measurement of risk aversion consists of seven items 
and was used in the SOEP in 2004 and 2009. An individual item on general risk aversion 
has been included in the SOEP at irregular intervals since 2004.

<b>Theoretical Background</b> <br>
Risks and uncertainties play a role in almost all important life decisions. 
In their pioneering work on the subject, Kahneman and Tversky (1979) developed a theoretical foundation 
for the analysis of risk attitudes in the form of “Prospect Theory.” This theory describes the process of 
decision making in situations of uncertainty, and postulates that the consequences of a decision are evaluated 
relative to a reference point as either gains or losses, also considering the probability of their occurrence. 
Here, individual risk attitudes affect not only how individuals evaluate the potential gains and losses but also 
how they evaluate the respective probabilities of the event’s occurrence. In the economic research, individual risk 
attitudes are used to explain decisions about financial investments, labor market behavior and success, and 
health behavior (e.g., Dohmen et al., 2011). More recent work in the field of educational sociology has studied 
the influence of individual risk aversion on educational decisions (Hartlaub & Schneider, 2013).

For further information, please consult SOEP Scales Manual, p. 59 - 61:
https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.571151.de/diw_ssp0423.pdf

## Settings

The current implementation, each item is displayed on a single page. If the participant requires more than 
30 seconds to answer a question, the following message appears: *Time limit reached. Please decide faster.*


## Exported Data