What is a key characteristic of leptokurtic distributions?

A key characteristic of leptokurtic distributions is that they have a narrow peak and heavy tails. The term "leptokurtic" refers to a type of probability distribution that exhibits a higher peak than a normal distribution, which indicates that more data points are concentrated around the mean. This concentration results in a sharper peak. Additionally, the heavy tails imply that there are more extreme values (both high and low) in the dataset compared to a normal distribution, leading to an increased probability of outliers.

This behavior can have significant implications in statistics and data analysis, as it affects the interpretation of variance and risk, particularly in fields like finance where extreme events are of particular concern. Understanding this characteristic helps in assessing the reliability and behavior of the data.

The other options describe properties that do not align with the defining features of leptokurtic distributions. For instance, flat and light-tailed distributions are indicative of platykurtic distributions, while symmetrical properties pertain to normal distributions, and skewed distributions are characterized by their lack of symmetry.