Year: 2005
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In the college age population, risk-taking behavior has become common in the form of drug and alcohol abuse, dangerous physical activities, and unsafe sexual practices. Previous theories that have explored the factors involved in such behaviors include dispositional, decision-making, and neurocognitive functioning based theories. The present study examined the contributions of gender, disposition, affect, and executive functions involved in decision-making, to self-reported expected participation in risk-taking activities in undergraduates from a mid-sized Midwestern university (N=90). Individuals were assessed using the Iowa Gambling Task, the Go/No Go test, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Participants were administered the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, a self-report measure based on Gray’s behavioral activation/behavioral inhibition systems theory (BIS/BAS scale), and a self-report measure of expected participation in risk-taking behavior (Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events Scale). In the full sample, gender was found to be the best predictor of risk-taking. Males and females were then examined individually, and for the male sample, worse performance on measures of executive functioning was associated with more expected
Author: John Tsanadis
Institution: Ohio University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2488346972