Risk-Taking
Editor(s)
Marc H. Bornstein
Files
Description
A number of factors can influence an individual’s propensity to take risks. In particular, developmental differences in reward sensitivity (attraction to money, food, and other rewards), self-control, and mental representation (the mental picture or interpretation) of choices have each been shown to explain greater susceptibility to risk-taking. Developmental differences refer to how people change with age from infancy to old age. This entry will explain how understanding each of these factors (and developmental trends in each of them) can help to explain changes in risk-taking that occur across the life span. This entry first defines key terms relating to risk-taking and then goes on to describe developmental trends in risk-taking and how these trends are explained by the leading psychological theories of risk-taking.
Title of Book
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development
ISBN
9781506307640
Publication Date
2018
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publisher
SAGE Publications
City
Thousand Oaks
Keywords
risk-taking, reward sensitivity, self-control, mental representation, developmental differences
Disciplines
Cognition and Perception | Cognitive Psychology | Developmental Psychology
Recommended Citation
Alisha S. Meschkow, Julia Nolte, David M. Garavito, Rebecca K. Helm, Rebecca B. Weldon & Valerie F. Reyna,
Risk-Taking, in
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development
(Marc H. Bornstein eds., 2018).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-chapters/51