Your mind plays tricks when fortune is at stake. A guaranteed gain feels safe. A guaranteed loss feels unbearable. But are you actually rational, or is your brain's ancient wiring making the choice for you? Kahneman and Tversky discovered the answer.
Risk & Reward Explorer
Explore how your brain evaluates gains and losses, and discover the hidden biases that shape every risky decision you make.
Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979) shows that people don't evaluate outcomes rationally. We feel losses roughly twice as strongly as equivalent gains. We also flip our risk preferences depending on whether a choice is framed as a gain or a loss. Over 8 rounds, you'll see this in action, in yourself and in three AI opponents.
Your AI Opponents
Sanjay
Loss-Averse
Always takes the safe option, especially when there's something to gain. Hates uncertainty.
Pooja
Risk-Seeker
Goes for the gamble every time. Loves the thrill and believes luck favors the bold.
Arun
Framing-Sensitive
Classic prospect theory: risk-averse for gains, risk-seeking for losses. The textbook human.
Tokens: 500
Round 1 / 8
GAIN SCENARIO
Safe Option
Certain outcome
Risky Option
?
Your Risk Profile
Risk-AverseNeutralRisk-Seeking
Experiment Complete
Final Standings
The Prospect Theory Value Function
This S-shaped curve shows how we perceive value. The curve is steeper for losses than for gains, meaning losing 50 tokens feels worse than gaining 50 feels good. The curve is also concave for gains (risk-averse) and convex for losses (risk-seeking). This explains why most people take the safe bet when gaining but gamble when losing.
