Who takes risks when and why? Determinants of risk taking

Bernd Figner; Elke U. Weber

doi:10.1177/0963721411415790

Who takes risks when and why? Determinants of risk taking

Bernd Figner, Elke U. Weber

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

315 Scopus citations

Abstract

Life is full of risky decisions, from the mundane to matters of life or death. Individuals differ in the risks they accept (or even deliberately embrace). However, risk taking is not a single trait but is a behavior influenced by characteristics of the situation (what the decision is about and to what extent it engages affect vs. deliberation), the decision maker (age and gender), and interactions between situation and decision maker. Understanding the mechanisms behind risk taking-or who takes risks when and why-is particularly important when the goal is to influence and modify the behavior.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	211-216
Number of pages	6
Journal	Current Directions in Psychological Science
Volume	20
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411415790
State	Published - Aug 2011
Externally published	Yes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

General Psychology

Keywords

Columbia Card Task
DOSPERT scale
adolescence
deliberative versus affective processes
domain-specific risk taking
gender differences
individual differences
risky decision making

Access to Document

10.1177/0963721411415790

Cite this

@article{85bd73c0c73f49b6a96f5eff5029f277,

title = "Who takes risks when and why? Determinants of risk taking",

abstract = "Life is full of risky decisions, from the mundane to matters of life or death. Individuals differ in the risks they accept (or even deliberately embrace). However, risk taking is not a single trait but is a behavior influenced by characteristics of the situation (what the decision is about and to what extent it engages affect vs. deliberation), the decision maker (age and gender), and interactions between situation and decision maker. Understanding the mechanisms behind risk taking-or who takes risks when and why-is particularly important when the goal is to influence and modify the behavior.",

keywords = "Columbia Card Task, DOSPERT scale, adolescence, deliberative versus affective processes, domain-specific risk taking, gender differences, individual differences, risky decision making",

author = "Bernd Figner and Weber, {Elke U.}",

note = "Funding Information: Writing of this article was supported by a U.S. National Science Foundation grant (SES–0922743) to Figner and Weber.",

year = "2011",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1177/0963721411415790",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "20",

pages = "211--216",

journal = "Current Directions in Psychological Science",

issn = "0963-7214",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Who takes risks when and why? Determinants of risk taking

AU - Figner, Bernd

AU - Weber, Elke U.

N1 - Funding Information: Writing of this article was supported by a U.S. National Science Foundation grant (SES–0922743) to Figner and Weber.

PY - 2011/8

Y1 - 2011/8

N2 - Life is full of risky decisions, from the mundane to matters of life or death. Individuals differ in the risks they accept (or even deliberately embrace). However, risk taking is not a single trait but is a behavior influenced by characteristics of the situation (what the decision is about and to what extent it engages affect vs. deliberation), the decision maker (age and gender), and interactions between situation and decision maker. Understanding the mechanisms behind risk taking-or who takes risks when and why-is particularly important when the goal is to influence and modify the behavior.

AB - Life is full of risky decisions, from the mundane to matters of life or death. Individuals differ in the risks they accept (or even deliberately embrace). However, risk taking is not a single trait but is a behavior influenced by characteristics of the situation (what the decision is about and to what extent it engages affect vs. deliberation), the decision maker (age and gender), and interactions between situation and decision maker. Understanding the mechanisms behind risk taking-or who takes risks when and why-is particularly important when the goal is to influence and modify the behavior.

KW - Columbia Card Task

KW - DOSPERT scale

KW - adolescence

KW - deliberative versus affective processes

KW - domain-specific risk taking

KW - gender differences

KW - individual differences

KW - risky decision making

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79961199528&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79961199528&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0963721411415790

DO - 10.1177/0963721411415790

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:79961199528

SN - 0963-7214

VL - 20

SP - 211

EP - 216

JO - Current Directions in Psychological Science

JF - Current Directions in Psychological Science

IS - 4

ER -

Who takes risks when and why? Determinants of risk taking

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this