Citation

Damen TGE. Acta Psychol. 2019; 197: 10-15.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, NL-3584 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands. Electronic address: t.g.e.damen@uu.nl.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.04.015

PMID

31048105

Abstract

Previous research suggests that people tend to underestimate risks that are under their control. It is however unclear which processes underlie the control-risk relation. The present research investigated the feeling of causal control known as agency as a predictor of risk-perception and risk-taking. In two studies, participants performed a risk-taking task in which their actions either caused immediate or delayed outcomes - a validated manipulation of agency.

RESULTS show that when outcomes were shown immediately rather than delayed, and respectively, when agency was high rather than low, participants reported a higher ability to control risks (Study 1). Furthermore, they were also more inclined to take risks (Study 2). The present research, the first to apply principles that emerged from fundamental research on agency into the societally relevant domain of risk-related perception and behavior, therefore showed a clear relation between agency and risk.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en