Choking When the Stakes are High (IMAGE) California Institute of Technology Caption A new study by researchers at the California Institute of Technology suggests that when there are high financial incentives to succeed, people can become so afraid of losing their potentially lucrative reward that their performance suffers. The researchers also found that the more someone is afraid of loss, the worse they perform. Credit Lance Hayashida/Caltech Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.