Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult

Exposure to danger leads those who grew up poor to gamble for immediate rewards

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (07/06/2011) —When faced with threat, people who grew up poor are more likely to make risky financial choices in search of a quick windfall, according to new research from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “The Influence of Mortality and Socioeconomic Status on Risk and Delayed Rewards: A Life History Approach” by Carlson School assistant professor of marketing Vladas Griskevicius found that people respond to feeling threatened differently depending on whether people grew up in relatively resource-scarce or resource-plentiful environments.