Would you take 拢50,000 or a 50/50 chance of 拢1m?
How to understand risk-averse financial decision making
If you had a choice between instantly receiving 拢50,000 or a 50% chance to win 拢1m, which would you pick?
When YouGov asked exactly that question to people in the UK, 73% said they would take the 拢50,000, while 21% opted for the 50/50 chance of winning 拢1m.
As you may or may not have imagined, this finding provoked outrage on Twitter, with people saying the UK appeared incredibly risk averse. 鈥淭his is what鈥檚 wrong with Britain,鈥� wrote celebrity polling analyst and More or Less interviewee Nate Silver.
But is the result surprising, when you know a bit more about how people make decisions like this? 麻豆社 economics editor Faisal Islam explains why he thinks not.
Image: Illustration of paper notes with a sterling pound symbol falling. Credit: Jamie Lawton/Getty Images
Presenter: Lizzy McNeill
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed
Sound engineer: Donald MacDonald
Editor: Richard Vadon
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