Negative And Positive Risk-taking Behavior And Its Influencing Factors Of Individual Psychology In Late Adolescence

Increased risk-taking behaviour is a major cause of health-related problems among adolescents(Irwin & Millstein,1986).At present,researchers more agree with the dualsystem theory(Steinberg et al.,2008).Starting from the dual-system theory,sensation seeking,impulsivity and reward and punishment sensitivity have attracted researchers’ attention.However,the researchers proposed to consider risk-taking behavior beyond the dangerous consequences of adolescence(Hansen & Breivik,2001).Thus,Duell and Steinberg(2019)put forward the concept of positive risk-taking behavior.However,the research on positive risk-taking is relatively limited.Therefore,this study attempts to explore both negative and positive risk-taking behaviors.It is important to note that most of the literature equates sensation seeking with negative risk-taking behavior,while little is known about the association between sensation seeking and positive risk-taking behavior.There is growing evidence that reward sensitivity is associated with positive risk-taking behavior with positive outcomes,while impulsivity may be more strongly associated with risk-taking behavior associated with negative outcomes(Khurana et al.,2018;Romer et al.,2017;Yoneda et al.,2019).Moreover,some studies have found that sensation seeking can affect individual reward and punishment sensitivity and impulsivity(Duell et al.,2016;Cservenka et al.,2012),therefore,this study attempts to examine whether sensation seeking affects individuals’ positive risk-taking behaviors by influencing their reward and punishment sensitivity,and whether sensation seeking affects individuals’ negative risk-taking behaviors by influencing impulsivity.In addition,problem behavior theory believes that risk-taking behavior should be discussed from three aspects: personality traits,perceived environment and behavior(Jessor,1987).When adolescents perceive high risk factors in risky situations,individuals are more inclined to avoid risks,and conversely,they are more inclined to participate in risky behaviors.At the same time,high social support from family,lovers and friends has been shown to be negatively correlated with risk-taking behavior(Jarnecke & South,2014).However,the role of social support may vary depending on the source of support.Therefore,this study further explores whether risk perception and perceived social support have moderating effects on the mediating model of sensation seeking through impulsivity/reward/punishment sensitivity.In this study,1584 students(904 girls)from senior one to senior three in an ordinary middle school in Yinchuan,Ningxia,aged between 14 and 19(M = 16.25,SD = 1.05)were selected by cluster sampling method.The Sensation Seeking Scale(SSS),the Brief Barratt Impulsiveness Scale(BBIS),the Behavioral Inhibition/Activation System Scale(BAS/BIS),the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale(CASSS),the Positive RiskTaking Scale(PRTS)and the Adolescent Risk-Taking Questionnaire(ARQ),and the results were as follows:(1)Sensation seeking positively predicted positive risk-taking behavior,reward sensitivity positively predicted positive risk-taking behavior,and impulsivity positively predicted negative risk-taking behavior;(2)Sensation seeking affects positive risk-taking behavior mainly through reward sensitivity,and the effect of sensation seeking on positive risk-taking behavior is moderated by risk perception;(3)Sensation-seeking affects negative risk-taking behavior mainly through impulsivity;The effect of sensation seeking on negative risk-taking behavior was moderated by risk perception and perceived social support.The effect of sensation seeking on impulsivity was moderated by perceptual school support.In general,sensation-seeking can promote individuals to take more risks.Sensationseeking can improve individuals’ reward sensitivity,so individuals are more likely to participate in positive risk-taking behaviors.The individual sensation seeks to increase the level of impulsivity,thus making it possible for individuals to engage in negative risktaking behaviors.Risk awareness and perception of social support in sensation seeking influence on risky behavior regulation role,namely low relative to the risk perception,risk perception conditions to promote the influence of sensation seeking on positive risktaking,relative to the high risk perception,under the condition of low risk awareness to promote the influence of sensation seeking on negative risk behavior,relative to the low level of perception of school support,The effect of sensation seeking on impulsivity was enhanced under high level perceptual school support.