Cultural, cognitive and personality traits in risk-taking behaviour: evidence from Poland and the United States of America

Abstract

The study analyses the susceptibility to risk-taking behaviour in relation to cultural, cognitive and personality traits. For the requirements of the research, undergraduate students with the same major but from two different cultural regions (Poland and the USA) were examined. In order to better understand them, the ten-item personality inventory (TIPI) method–a 10-item measure of the Big-Five personality dimensions–was used. A domain-specific risk-taking (DOSPERT) scale was used to assess risk-taking, while cognitive aspects of behaviour were measured by a cognitive reflection test. It is important to point out that Polish students reported significantly greater proneness to risk-taking than their American counterparts. It was revealed that participants scoring highly in the cognitive reflection test were characterised with lower risk-taking propensity. Consistent with past research, high scores in extraversion and low scores in conscientiousness predicted overall risk-taking behaviour. As follows from the study, men reported significantly greater willingness to take risks than women.