I happened upon a new TV show on NBC tonight called "Minute to Win It" in which contestants complete progressively more difficult tasks (10 in total) in their quest to win the ultimate prize of $1 million.  Each contestant is given 3 "lives" or opportunities to retry tasks if they fail.  Here are some examples of the tasks I witnessed this evening:

1)  Keep three feathers in the air using only your mouth/breathe.

2)  Transfer 5 cotton balls from one bowl to another (15 feet away) using only your nose, which has been dipped in Vaseline.

3) Stack three golf balls on top of each other so they stay in the form of a tower for at least 3 seconds.

I thought the show was creative possessed an appropriate level of difficulty, and had just enough action to hold my interest.  While watching it though, I was surprised to see that some of the contestants bowed out with a comparitively low level of winnings (i.e. $125,000).  This made me wonder; do game show contestants behave differntly during periods of economic difficulty?  What is their tolerance for risk during different economic situations? 

For purposes of comparison, let us assume that all contestants have similar personal economic situations, and have used all of their "lives"; are they more likely to continue and play for the next reward level, or are they more likely to accept what they have already won and stop play?  Thoughts?

-Nate