Cross-Domain Asymmetry in Risk–Benefit Weighting: Evidence for Benefit-Dominant Decision Architecture in IT Security Contexts
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Understanding how individuals form intentions in risk-related situations requires examining the internal weighting structure of perceived gains and losses. While most multidimensional risk models assume a balanced integration of perceived benefit and perceived risk, the relative magnitude of these components has rarely been tested directly. This study investigates whether action probability in risk-related contexts is better described by symmetric gain–loss integration or by structurally asymmetric weighting. Using a cross-sectional dataset of 772 higher education students and a modified DOSPERT-based instrument including an IT security domain, standardized regression models were estimated to compare the predictive strength of perceived benefit and perceived risk. The results indicate that perceived benefit is more strongly associated with action probability than perceived risk across both examined domains. In the IT security domain, the standardized coefficient of perceived benefit was more than five times larger in magnitude than that of perceived risk (β = 0.679 vs. β = -0.125), with the model explaining 54% of the variance. Domain-specific analyses indicated the presence of benefit dominance across the examined risk domains, with no significant difference in asymmetry magnitude between them. The findings suggest that risk-related behavioral intention in the analysed sample may be characterized by a benefit-dominant decision architecture rather than balanced gain–loss evaluation, with implications for risk communication and decision-support design.
Authors: Pál Fehér-Polgár, Péter Szikora
Institution: Obuda University
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7204181599