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The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between financial risk-taking and trait emotional intelligence (EI).

An incentivized online survey was conducted to collect the data, including measurements for cognitive ability and socio-demographic characteristics.

There is a positive correlation between trait EI and financial risk-taking that is at least as large as that between risk-taking and measures of cognitive control (CRT). Trait EI is a key determinant of risk-taking. However, not all components of trait EI play an identical role. In fact, we observe positive effects of well-being, mainly driven by males and sociability. Self-control seems to matter only for males.

This study suffers from the bias of self-reported answers, a common limitation of all survey studies.

This evidence provides a noncognitive explanation for the typically observed heterogeneity of financial risk-taking, in addition to more established explanations linked to cognitive skills. Investor profiles should be also determined on their trait EI.

Governments should start programs meant to improve the level of trait EI to ameliorate individual wealth outcomes. Female investors participation in the financial markets might increase by fostering their sociability.

The relationship between trait EI and each of its components with financial risk-taking is vastly unexplored, while it is the first time that gender effects are discussed in that set up.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of early investment experiences on subsequent portfolio allocation decisions in a laboratory setting.

In an experiment in which the task consisted of allocating a portfolio between a risky and riskless asset for 20 periods, two groups of subjects were confronted with either a market boom or bust in the initial four periods.

The findings suggest that after controlling for demographic characteristics, the timing of a boom or bust during the investment lifecycle matters greatly. Subjects that faced a bust early in their investment lifecycle held less of the risky asset in subsequent periods compared to subjects who experienced an early boom.

To the best of the authors knowledge this is the first laboratory study investigating the role of early aggregate shocks on subsequent investment behavior.