Individual differences in risk-taking and behavioural modification

Abstract

Risk-taking occurs in a variety of contexts, characterized by a high probability of negative consequences including financial, health, and social harm. Risk-taking is addressed in several decision-making models, one of which is the dual system model. This model proposes that two competitive brain systems - the intuitive and the analytic system - interact to give rise to risky or non-risky behaviours. Several neuroscientific models, widely supported by the literature, propose this hypothesis to explain risk-taking behaviour at the brain level, suggesting brain areas related to reward and emotion processing for the intuitive system and regions related to cognitive control for the analytic system. Besides creating a theoretical framework, research has also identified internal and external factors that influence risk-taking, such as emotions, age, social context, and personality traits that also show brain correlates in overlapping brain areas associated to risk-taking. In conclusion, the studies presented in this thesis build on former research showing risk propensity to be related to brain areas associated to cognitive control and emotional and reward processing. They provide evidence for the brain correlates of influential factors in risk-taking and for the potential of mindfulness-based training to reduce risky behaviour, emphasizing the relevance of individual differences.