“Chimpanzee and Human Risk Preferences Show Key Similarities”, Lou M. Haux, Jan M. Engelmann, Ruben C. Arslan, Ralph Hertwig, Esther Herrmann2023-01-03 (animal psych)⁠:

Risk preference impacts how people make key life decisions related to health, wealth, and well-being. Systematic variations in risk-taking behavior can be the result of differences in fitness expectations, as predicted by life-history theory. Yet the evolutionary roots of human risk-taking behavior remain poorly understood.

Here, we studied risk preferences of chimpanzees (86 Pan troglodytes; 47 females; age = 2–40 years) using a multimethod approach that combined observer ratings with behavioral choice experiments.

We found that chimpanzees’ willingness to take risks shared structural similarities with that of humans:

1. chimpanzees’ risk preference manifested as a trait-like preference that was consistent across domains and measurements.

2. chimpanzees were ambiguity averse.

3. males were more risk prone than females.

4. the appetite for risk showed an inverted-U-shaped relation to age and peaked in young adulthood.

Our findings suggest that key dimensions of risk preference appear to emerge independently of the influence of human cultural evolution.