Survey_HK_2012

Abstract

We recruited 25 adolescents (aged 12–17 years) in Helsinki, Finland, in spring 2009, by announcing an invitation to participate in an experiment that concerns music and attitude towards monetary gains and losses. Participants were told that the experiment consists of two separate sessions. For the first session they were asked to select, and bring with them four pieces of their favorite music and four pieces of music they disliked (on music CDs or mp3-files). We recognize the possibility that locating and bringing in the disliked music requires more effort than what is required for the favorite music. If this is indeed the case the impact of disliked music could be understated in our empirical tests. The announcement also explained the payment structure: the subjects would be paid 10 euros for participating in the first session, while earnings in the second session would depend on the decisions they make during the experiment as well as chance outcomes. The subjects could either win or lose money in the second session. We adopted this two-session structure to make the subjects feel that they would face actual potential losses in the gambles, and less likely to feel as if they were “gambling with the house money”. The maximum amount that the subjects could win was 20 euros, and the maximum amount they could lose was 10 euros. An informed consent was solicited from the subjects’ parents prior to the experiment.