Adolescent Risk-Taking: The Validity of Stoplight as a Laboratory-Based Measure
Gardiner, Beatrix Thea
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Cite this item:
Gardiner, B. T. (2013). Adolescent Risk-Taking: The Validity of Stoplight as a Laboratory-Based Measure (Thesis, Master of Arts). University of Otago. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/4011
Permanent link to OUR Archive version:
http://hdl.handle.net/10523/4011
Abstract:
Adolescence is a developmental period characterised by an increase in behaviours such as drinking, smoking, drug taking, dangerous driving, and unprotected sex. These risk-taking behaviours can lead to serious psychological and physical consequences. Laboratory-based analogues of risk-taking behaviour provide an opportunity to assess risk-taking in a controlled context. The goal of the present study was to assess the validity of the recently-revised Chicken game, Stoplight, as a laboratory-based measure of risk-taking. To do this, we examined the relations between Stoplight, the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), personality, and previous real-life risk-taking behaviour, in a sample of adolescents (aged 16- to 17-years old) and emerging adults (aged 18- to 20 years-old). Our results showed that, after age and sex, personality was the largest predictor of real-life risk-taking behaviour. Personality correlated with prosocial and antisocial risk-taking behaviour, but prosocial and antisocial risk-taking behaviour did not correlate with each other. This result suggests that prosocial risk-taking is an alternative outlet to antisocial risk-taking for individuals with high risk-seeking personalities. Risky game-play on Stoplight was associated with real-life antisocial risk-taking behaviour, but this association was no longer significant once age, sex, and personality were taken into account. BART performance was correlated with prosocial risk-taking behaviour but this association was no longer significant once sex and personality were taken into account. The results of this study have implications for measuring risk-taking behaviour in the laboratory, and for current public policies surrounding risk-taking behaviours in young people in New Zealand.
Date:
2013
Advisor:
Hayne, Harlene
Degree Name:
Master of Arts
Degree Discipline:
Psychology
Publisher:
University of Otago
Keywords:
Risk-Taking; Emerging-Adult; Personality; Stoplight; Balloon Analogue Risk Task; Chicken; Laboratory-Based; Adolescent
Research Type:
Thesis
Languages:
English
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- Thesis - Masters [3331]
- Psychology collection [374]