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Investigating the Impact of Socio-Environmental Cues of Harshness on Risk-Taking Behaviour: A Virtual Reality Experiment

Janus, Erik (2022) Investigating the Impact of Socio-Environmental Cues of Harshness on Risk-Taking Behaviour: A Virtual Reality Experiment.

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Abstract:Risk-taking behaviour is subject to individual differences. While risk-taking is often interpreted as maladaptive, evolutionary-developmental psychology claims it serves an adaptive purpose under specific environmental conditions. Thus, behaving riskily in environments characterised by harshness (high morbidity and mortality rates beyond the individual's control) is theorised to increase the individual's fitness. The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of socio-environmental cues of harshness on risk-taking behaviour. It was hypothesised that exposure to socio-environmental cues of harshness increases risk-taking behaviour. Furthermore, it was hypothesised that experience of resource scarcity in early childhood positively moderates the effect of socio-environmental cues of harshness on risk-taking behaviour. An experimental between-subjects design was used. Participants (N = 51) were allocated to one of two Virtual Reality (VR) scenes. VR scenes showed two distinct neighbourhoods that differed in level of harshness (low vs high). Risk-taking was measured by the Balloon Analogue Risk Task implemented in both VR scenes. A questionnaire was used to measure resource scarcity in early childhood. An independent sample t-test was conducted to test the first hypothesis, t (45) = -.28, p = .78. A multiple linear regression was conducted to test the second hypothesis, F (3,47) = 0.55, p = .65. Exposure to harshness did not increase risk-taking behaviour, and resource scarcity did not act as a moderator. The lack of diversity of the sample was a limitation. A strength was the successful manipulation of harshness through VR scenes. A proposal for future research was made.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/92116
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