Investigation of Psychological, Genetic & Physiological Determinants of Risk-Taking

Risk-taking behavior is a multifaceted phenomenon influenced by complex demographic, psychosocial, genetic and physiological factors. Yet, there is a paucity of multidisciplinary research investigating mechanisms underlying risk-taking behavior. The main objective of the current project is to examine the individual differences of undergraduates in risk-taking behavior under uncertainty across different risk-taking domains (general, financial, health among others). For this purpose, we investigate (1) gene-environment interactions influencing individual differences in risk-taking across different domains, (2) individual differences in HPA-axis reactivity during a real investment game, and (3) individual differences in risk-taking while viewing different visual representations of risk. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we also incorporated pandemic-related measures to identify their influence on risk-taking behavior. The project is conducted as a collaboration between Psychology and Economics Departments and funded by a Multidisciplinary Research Grant from Bogazici University Research Foundation.