| This study tested the hypothesis that cognitive ability and self-reports of risk-taking tendency are correlated in college students. Other variables examined for relationship to risk-taking tendency were gender, type of high school attended (mixed-sex or same-sex), and number of risk-taking actions reported.; The subjects for this study were 44 undergraduates enrolled in education courses at Saint Louis University. Participation in the study was voluntary.; Risk-taking tendency was defined as "the likelihood that an individual will undertake an action that is intended to accomplish a specific and positive goal or purpose, but that poses a risk to the individual of harm or loss." Risk-taking tendency was operationally defined as an individual's score on the risk-taking subscale of the Jackson Personality Inventory-Revised. Cognitive ability was operationally defined as the subject's composite score on the ACT (American College Testing) Assessment. Subjects also completed the Survey of Risk-Taking Actions, developed by the researcher. The Survey described five areas of risk-taking---Intellectual, Social, Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual---and provided examples of each. The subjects supplied further examples of risk-taking actions they had taken, or that had been taken by someone they knew. Participants were also asked how many times they had taken risks in each of the five areas in the past month.; No correlation was found between risk-taking tendency and cognitive ability, or between risk-taking tendency and self-reports of risk-taking actions. In addition, risk-taking was found to be unrelated to gender and to the type of high school attended. Examples of risk-taking actions, provided by subjects, revealed a wide variety of actions and behaviors. Analysis of the qualitative responses also yielded several themes that recurred across the five areas, including entering unfamiliar territory, disagreeing with others, and dating and establishing relationships. |
