The Science and Art of Risk-Taking
The balloon expands, growing faster and faster. It’s only a matter of time before it bursts. You are now pumping the balloon and can almost sense the stretching of the latex, anticipating the imminent pop; however, you know that if you pumps this virtual balloon on a computer screen just a couple more times and it doesn’t pop, you’ll earn more points as each seconds, milliseconds passed. Stop? No Stop? You are unsure, but decide to give it just some more seconds to grow. Then: Popped. Burst. Deflated. Points and all. Back to zero. You grimace in frustration, and begin to regret why you didn’t hit that stop button on the screen earlier.
This is the famous Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART), a research tool used by a wide range of neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists to assess a person’s proclivity for risk and the propensity of an individual to indulge in risky behavior to gain a potential reward(Lejuez et al.). In the end, it all comes down to the topic of risk-taking. It is embedded in our life so much so that we are taking the risks every single day and they range from the small and mundane to the massive and life-changing: things like what to grab for breakfast or what to buy at the drugstore, applying for a job, going on a first date or learning a new skill all require you to take a leap and make some risky decisions.
So, how do we make these decisions?
The Science of Risk-Taking
In general, the ability to assess the risk of getting a reward relies on a complex neural network that includes the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the orbitofrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens, and the basolateral amygdala (Mai et al.). When we are making risky decisions, activity increases in a part of the brain called the insular cortex, the networks of which interact with other brain areas, including parts of the limbic system that function in learning, memory and emotion, to help us picture the negative consequences. In that sense, do people usually make the same decision? What factors go into the decision making process to lead us to act in a risk-averse versus risk-seeking manner?
First and foremost, a person’s risk-taking behavior could be partially explained by inheritance. A study done on 25,000 individuals indicating that 3% of risk-taking behavior can be explained by genetics(Pomeroy).
Second, in terms of brain structure, another study published on Nature Human Behaviour examining 12,000 people from the UK Biobank suggests that risk-takers tend to have less gray matter, which is the brain tissue that contains the most neurons, in certain regions like amygdala and ventral striatum, which are areas known to be involved in emotion, fear regulation, decision-making, and risk assessment(Aydogan et al.). Additionally, they found that distinct variations in white matter can be observed among individuals with different risk-taking tendencies, particularly in regions neighboring the prefrontal cortex, within interhemispheric tracts, and in the posterior brain regions responsible for visual processing.
Third, hormones are an important contributor to risk-taking behaviors. In one case, some participants in an investment game were given a dose of oxytocin, a hormone long associated with social bonding. Those who received the oxytocin boost were more trusting with their money and invested larger amounts with a broker. On the other hand, overdose of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, is more correlated with risk-averse behavior(Richardson).
Beyond these innate and biological factors in determining our risk-taking behaviors, do people generally like risks?
The Art of Risk-Taking
The answer is, most of us don’t like risk. As the loss aversion theory suggests, the pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining, and this can be easily observed in activities such as free trials, panic buying, insurance, stock market, and so forth. However, is being risk-averse really good and beneficial to you? Sometimes no. SINTEF researcher and behavioral analyst Dagfinn Moe highlights that in reality, various beneficial brain chemicals are triggered in response to risky situations. These chemicals stimulate growth factors essential for the formation of resilient neural networks, which are fundamental for our physical and mental capabilities(Vorobyev et al.).
This is not saying that we should all become reckless risk takers, which may contribute to potential addictive behaviors like gambling, smoking, and so forth; however, we should always push ourselves to take calculated risk to learn from failure and grow from it.
A 20-year-longitudinal research conducted by Columbia University’s Tory Higgins suggests that “it might be more accurate to say that some of us are particularly risk-averse, not because we are neurotic, paranoid, or even lacking in self-confidence, but because we tend to see our goals as opportunities to maintain the status quo and keep things running smoothly”(Grant). Indeed, everything you want requires some level of risk. Taking risks can be extremely fulfilling and rewarding, yet it is also challenging for humans whose brains and bodies are wired for homeostasis, a tendency to stay at rest and inside their comfort zone. However, the difficulty does not stem from the impossibility of achieving success. Instead, it is the fear of failure that frequently prevents us from taking the first step, therefore preventing us from learning, discovering opportunities and succeeding.
To solve this, mindfulness plays a really important role here. We should always attempt to build a growth mindset: to embrace challenges and to take calculated risks and learn from failures and criticism. Risks are never certainly good or bad, but some risks are worth taking because they help us develop such a growth mindset and could potentially supercharge our learning and lead to new experiences, knowledge, and growth.
Work Cited
- Richardson, Michael W. “Neuroeconomics: Making Big and Small Decisions.” BrainFacts.Org, www.brainfacts.org/neuroscience-in-society/law-economics-and-ethics/2018/neuroeconomics-making-big-and-small-decisions. Accessed 3 Mar. 2024.
- Lejuez, C. W., Read, J. P., Kahler, C. W., Richards, J. B., Ramsey, S. E., Stuart, G. L., Strong, D. R.,& Brown, R. A. (2002). Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: The Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 8(2), 75–84.
- Pomeroy, Ross. “Risk Takers Have ‘Childlike’ Brains-and Sometimes It’s a Benefit.” Big Think, 16 Feb. 2023, bigthink.com/sponsored/risk-taking-neuroscience/#:~:text=Risk%2Dtakers%20also%20appear%20to,%2C%20coping%20strategies%2C%20and%20development.
- Vorobyev, Victor, et al. “Risk-Taking Behavior in a Computerized Driving Task: Brain Activation Correlates of Decision-Making, Outcome, and Peer Influence in Male Adolescents.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0129516. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024.
- Aydogan, Gökhan, et al. “Genetic Underpinnings of Risky Behaviour Relate to Altered Neuroanatomy.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 28 Jan. 2021, www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01027-y#citeas.
- Grant, Heidi. “The Hidden Danger of Being Risk-Averse.” Harvard Business Review, 7 Aug. 2014, hbr.org/2013/07/hidden-danger-of-being-risk-averse.
- Mai, Bettina et al. “Dopamine D1/D2 Receptor Activity in the Nucleus Accumbens Core But Not in the Nucleus Accumbens Shell and Orbitofrontal Cortex Modulates Risk-Based Decision Making.” The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology vol. 18,10 pyv043. 23 Apr. 2015, doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyv043
