Should I Take a Risk?

Your health is directly or indirectly affected by your risk-taking propensity.  For instance, those who ride a motorcycle without a helmet risk physical impairment and those who fail to save for retirement risk financial impairment that undermines their ability to afford adequate health care and illness prevention.  Moreover, all risks and their unhealthful consequences are potentially stressful. 

Because risks are critically important for physical and mental health then, Xiao-Tian Wang and his co-workers (2016) investigated several types of risk to determine how they relate to each other, and to explore the roles of genetic and environmental factors in risk-taking.  More specifically, they scrutinized the following risk-relevant areas:

Safety:                               For instance, failing to use sunscreen in the summer

Reproduction:                    For instance,deliberately waiting past age 35 to give birth to a child

Natural and physical risk:   For instance,swimming when riptides are strong

Moral risk:                          For instance,lying to achieve an employment advantage

Financial risk:                     For instance,investing a high percentage of one's wealth in a start-up business

Gambling:                          For instance,betting more than one can afford to lose during a game of chance

Regarding the interrelationships,the Wang group discovered some interesting preliminary correlations.  For one, it was found that persons inclined toward financial risks also tended toward moral, natural, and physical risks; the researchers proffered that the correlation was associated with certain personality traits, namely neuroticism (trait anxiety) and agreeableness (a strong desire to get along and not to "rock the boat").

For most risk proclivities, genetic factors generally played a minimal explanatory role, and environmental factors played a moderate role. Of note, however, was that while genes played a very substantive role in addictive gambling (57%)  environmental factors were dominant in non-addictive gambling (68%)  The Wang results also found a proactive-reactive distinction for risk-taking. In this context, a proactive condition is one in which an action is taken in anticipation of some future risk, (taking public transportation rather than driving on a icy day) whereas a reactive condition is one in which an action is taken during a risky situation (reducing speed while driving on an icy day). Proactive risk-taking was shown to be much more dependent upon environmental factors than was reactive risk-taking.

The aforementioned study implies, then, that people are not born either to be especially risk-prone or risk-averse.  Rather, their risky behaviors are mostly environmentally determined.  However, persons who find themselves taking risks in one sphere should be alert to the likelihood that they are vulnerable to other risky behaviors as well.  For instance, individuals who take excessive risks with their money might also take excessive risks with their physical safety. 

One caveat is in order: risk-taking is not inevitably a pejorative.  Reasonable, prudent risk-taking is not inconsistent with a healthful lifestyle. Marathon running is risky.  But training for a marathon and/or living life like a marathoner requires one to behave consistently in ways that promote outstanding physical and mental health.  

We all must take some risks.  The trick is to be mindful of how you handle them and of your risk-taking pattern. Weigh the pros and cons carefully and err on the side of risks that have health-enhancing potential.

Reference

Wang, X. T., et al. (2016).  Not all risks are created equal: A twin study and meta-analyses of risk taking across seven domains.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145,11,1548-1560 . http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000225