Are You Missing The Opportunity To Take More Risks?

Let's have a bet. I'll toss a coin. Heads, I will give you $150. Tails you will give me $100. Would you take the bet? Most people won't. The last time I tried this on an audience was in Rome two weeks ago, where I had about five takers out of a room of 80. Admittedly, the audience was general counsel of large organizations from across Europe, who may be more risk-averse than the average, but research has found that you need to offer a gain of two or three times the loss in order to get people to...