Grable & Lytton Risk Tolerance
Psychology: Cognition & EducationReliability: alpha 0.783 sample items
About this scale
A 13-item measure of investor risk tolerance — willingness to take on financial risk for higher expected return. Used widely in financial-planning research.
Sample item(s)
“In general, how would your best friend describe you as a risk taker?”
“You have just finished saving for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Three weeks before you plan to leave, you lose your job. You would: (response options)”
“If you unexpectedly received $20,000 to invest, what would you do?”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.78. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Free for academic use.
Source & citation
Grable, J., & Lytton, R. H. (1999): Financial risk tolerance revisited: The development of a risk assessment instrument. Financial Services Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 163–181.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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