| Summary: | Previous research
has shown that short-term changes in blood glucose influence our preferences
and may affect decisions about risk as well. However, consensus is lacking
about whether and how blood glucose influences decision making under risk, and
we conduct two experiments and a meta-analysis to examine this question in
detail. In Study 1, using a pecuniary valuation method, we find no effect of
blood glucose on willingness to pay for risky products that may act as
allergens. In Study 2, using risky gambles, we find that low levels of blood
glucose increase risk taking for food and to a lesser degree for non-food
rewards. Combining our own and previous findings in a meta-analysis, we show
that low levels of blood glucose on average increase risk taking about food.
Low blood glucose does not increase risk taking about non-food rewards although
this is subject to heterogeneity. Overall, our studies suggest that low blood
glucose increases our willingness to gamble on how much food we can get, but
not our willingness to eat food that can harm us. Our findings are best
explained by the energy budget rule.
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