Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Mitty is a meek, mild man totally intimidated by his overbearing wife. He deals with it by daydreaming that he is transformed into a courageous hero.
Investors are a bit like Walter Mitty, says social psychologist Dean G. Pruitt. When the market is doing well, they become brave in their own eyes and eagerly accept more risk. But when the market goes down, they rush for the door. So when you ask an investor directly to explain their risk tolerance, the answer comes from either a fearless bomber pilot (in a bull market) or a henpecked husband (in a bear market).
Source: http://pruitt.socialpsychology.org/