Dopamine and risk choices in different domains: Findings among serious tournament bridge players

We explore how risk-taking in the card game contract bridge, and in a financial gamble, correlate with variation in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4) among serious tournament bridge players. In bridge risk-taking, we find significant interactions between genetic predisposition and skill. Among men with the 7-repeat allele of DRD4, namely 7R+ men, those with more bridge skill take more good risks and fewer bad risks, while the opposite is found for less-expert 7R+ men. Conversely, skill does not predict risk-taking among men without the 7R+ allele. Consistent with some prior studies, we also find that 7R+ men take more risk in the financial gamble. We find no relationship between 7R+ and either risk measure among our female subjects. Our results suggest that the dopamine system plays an important role in individual differences in risk-taking among men, and is the first to distinguish between advantageous and disadvantageous risk-taking. J Risk Uncertain (2011) 43:19–38 DOI 10.1007/s11166-011-9119-z A. Dreber Institute for Financial Research (SIFR), Stockholm, Sweden D. G. Rand Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA N. Wernerfelt Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA J. R. Garcia :M. G. Vilar : J. K. Lum Laboratory of Evolutionary Anthropology and Health, Departments of Biological Sciences and Anthropology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA R. Zeckhauser (*) Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Mailbox 41, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA e-mail: [email protected]