We compared Guanxi groups with non-Guanxi groups in order to investigate the different attitudes of Chinese regarding risk, when close Guanxi (i.e., interpersonal relationship of Chinese) exists among group members and when Guanxi absents. 185 students from a Chinese university participated in our experiment. Our results revealed that Guanxi groups showed more favorable risk attitudes after group discussions than when they make risk choices individually, compared with non-Guanxi groups. This is attributed to the influence of Guanxi, traditional Chinese cultural terms, which emphasizes on the trust among group members and thus shift the risk decisions among group members. This study also provides a discussion of the implications of these results in terms of local culture influence on decisions regarding risk.
