The Non-Existence of Risk Attitude

Opening Paragraph: Where do risk preferences come from? How do we decide if it is safe to eat unpasteurized cheese, whether to take up paragliding or mini-golf as a new hobby, whether to save in government bonds or place our money in a new technology hedge fund? Asking about the origin of risk preference in this general form requires two presuppositions, both of which may be challenged. The first presupposition is that there is some unitary basis to decisions about risk, where the nature of such risks (whether food poisoning, instant death, social embarrassment, or financial disaster) may vary substantially. The second presupposition is this unitary basis determines stable risk preferences, which help determining our choices when faced with risk