Different experimental procedures for obtaining valuations of risky actions: Implications for utility theory

Three different methods of obtaining certainty equivalent valuations of four simple gambles were used with a sample of 358 people paid entirely according to their decisions. The results caution against oversimplistic utility models, and exhibit various characteristics that invite further investigation, including: a marked tendency to round valuations up or down; a tendency to value riskier actions more highly than less risky actions; and multimodal distributions of valuations which, despite their unusual shape, appeared to constitute an identifiable pattern of behaviour.