Seeing is believing: examining self-efficacy and trait hope as moderators of youths’ positive risk-taking intention

Abstract

The present study builds on research related to the illusion of skills acquisition and the risk perception attitude framework to examine positive risk-taking intention amongst youths. Positive risk-taking allows youths to experience self-growth as they push through boundaries when engaging in creative activities. Through a longitudinal between-subjects experiment, we investigate whether watching videos of positive risk-taking will influence young adults’ likelihood to engage in similar activities because of vicarious learning. United States and Singapore participants (N = 646) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) recreational (n = 160), (2) health (n = 163), (3) prosocial (n = 154), and (4) control group (n = 169). Watching others participate in positive risk-taking behaviors did not attenuate participants’ risk perception; on the contrary, the health video actually increased risk perception. Individuals with higher self-efficacy and trait hope reported a higher risk-taking intention. Findings from this study highlight the need for scholars and educators to be aware that although watching positive risk-taking videos has minimal influence on youths’ risk perception, it reduces their intention to partake in risky activities in the future.