THE FIVE-FACTOR MODEL AND ITS INFLUENCE ON DECISION MAKING IN ECONOMIC GAMES

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between an individual’s personality and their decision- making in economic games. Personality is measured by the Five-Factor Model, comprising 5 personality domains – Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, with 6 facets in each domain. The economic games used are the Ultimatum game, Trust game and Public Goods game. Decision-making and personality data were collected from 2302 subjects via an incentivised study and analysed. Results show that the Agreeableness and Openness to Experience domains often serve as indicators of social preferences, which in turn influences decision-making. In particular, the Agreeableness domain has a positive relationship with prosocial behaviour and is the most significant domain influencing decision-making in economic games. This study also finds value in going beyond just analysing the domains, to analyse the facets as well, as they also provide indications of different social preferences that might not show up in the domain analysis.