In this thesis, an investigation has been carried out as to reveal the effects of an individual’s spoken language with regards to time and risk preferences. Through a small-­‐scale experiment in which Erasmus University bilingual students were asked to answer a survey concerning certain preferences (such as time, risk and health), the effects of each language was then measured and decoded. The results imply that the speakers of languages with more verbal tenses to describe the future have a higher tendency to act in a risk-­‐loving and impatient manner due to a disassociation of present and future tenses. The opposite applied as well; speakers of languages with few future tenses had a higher propensity for risk-­‐averse and patient behaviour. Many of the results did not have significant effect due to the sample size and possible sample bias since most respondents were male business students. Nevertheless, the results of this research are still noteworthy as it provides additional evidence to K.Chen’s claim, in addition to testing his theory on bilingual respondents. This paper can be used as a stepping-­‐stone for further investigation on the topic.

Neckermann, S.
hdl.handle.net/2105/16821
Business Economics
Erasmus School of Economics

Edwards, J. (2014, September 9). The Effects of Linguistic barriers on Time and Risk Preference on Bilingual Individuals. Business Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/16821