Previous research has shown that prior outcomes affect choices in an inconsistent way. As a consequence, a prior loss decreased risk seeking among participants at the end of a betting sequence, which is a time when people are believed to be more risk seeking

The life-cycle theory of saving behavior (Modigliani, 1988) suggests that humans strive towards an equal intertemporal distribution of wealth. However, behavioral life-cycle theory (Shefrin & Thaler, 1988) proposes that people use self control heuristics to postpone wealth until later in life....