Affect-laden imagery and risk taking: the mediating role of stress and risk perception.

ABSTRACT: This paper investigates how affect-laden imagery that evokes emotional stress influences risk perception and risk taking in real-life scenarios. In a series of three studies, we instructed participants to imagine the consequences of risky scenarios and then rate the intensity of the experienced stress, perceived risk and their willingness to engage in risky behavior. Study 1 showed that people spontaneously imagine negative rather than positive risk consequences, which are directly related to their lower willingness to take risk. Moreover, this relationship was mediated by feelings of stress and risk perception. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings by showing that imagining negative risk consequences evokes psychophysiological stress responses observed in elevated blood pressure.

SUBMITTER: Traczyk J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4376914 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature