PBS Associate Professor Peter Blake discusses the factors that influence risk-taking by children
PBS Associate Professor Peter Blake discusses the factors that influence risk-taking by children. From the article:
Some kids are risk-takers. Others tend to play it safe. Are these differences simply based on personality, or do children’s environments help shape their willingness to take a gamble?
A new study from researchers in Boston University’s Social Development and Learning Lab shows children from different socioeconomic backgrounds make different decisions when placed in the same risky situation. While psychologists have theorized that parents’ wealth and social status may influence their kids’ risk preferences, this study provides the first experimental evidence to support that assumption, says Peter Blake, a BU College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of psychology and a study coauthor. The findings were published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.