About Risk Attitudes

Personality, activity, success. To a large extent, a person’s success in life depends on whether his or her chosen occupation is a good match for his or her character and personality. For this reason, it is important to know yourself well. Achieving this by way of self-analysis alone is not easy since people are notoriously bad at judging themselves objectively. They often unconsciously attribute to themselves such qualities that may be desirable instead of taking unbiased stock of who and what they are.

Risk vs. safety. The Risk Attitudes Profiler determines the balance between two opposing psychological qualities: the need for emotional order, peace and safety vs. the taste for risk and new challenges. The specific balance between these two components is what shapes the person’s character and behavioral style in life. These two fundamental needs stem directly from the brain’s physiological functions and form a basis for many other character traits.

Risk index and types. By answering the questions in this quiz, you will get a quantitative measure (Risk Propensity Index) of your personal balance between these two needs. You will also be able to gauge in what particular group your personal appetite for risk falls: normal, increased or decreased.

Determining the balance between the needs for risk and stability is not limited to getting a quantitative measure only. It has long been noted that people with different risk and stability needs tend to engage in markedly different behaviors that could be categorized according to their preference for one or the other extreme. We differentiate between seven basic or “archetypal” risk types, starting from those with a predominant propensity for safety and peace, all the way to the types with a clear preference for risk and unabashed thrill seeking. These basic seven risk types are described below.

Basic Risk Types

Risk Attitudes Profiler: The Concept

Seeking comfort and peace (absence of danger) is intrinsic to all humans and animals. Animals reach this state when all their vital needs are met and they are in no apparent danger. When there is a threat present, animals receive signals from the so-called negative emotions centers, which are essentially clumps of neurons that produce feelings of discomfort (hunger, cold, etc.) and emotions, such as anxiety and fear.

In an animal, these negative emotions centers are always “on” since animals never stop worrying about food, shelter, safety, etc. In humans who usually live in a man-made comfort environment, these neuron formations, or centers, may remain idle most of the time. However, any physiological system needs to be exercised. Insufficient activity in the "suffering centers" triggers certain physiological mechanisms, compelling people to engage in risky activities or respond to challenges. The need for such feelings is expressed differently in different people, ranging from an innocent desire for an occasional thrill to life-threatening antics or antisocial behavior. As this urge to experience negative emotions or danger is irrational and meaningless by itself, it is subconsciously transformed into wishing for something that—subjectively—makes sense and is thus highly desirable (such as, for example, a desire for wealth, glory, power, etc.). The specific demands imposed on a person by his or her negative emotions centers determine that person’s behavior in the society, ambition, daring and ability to overcome obstacles. These demands can also lead to dangerous actions and, in persons with low moral and ethical awareness, to antisocial and criminal behavior.

Everyone has a different need for peace, stability and safety on the one hand, and "thrills" on the other. The specific manifestation of these subconscious urges also depends on the conditions under which people of different personality types live. Coupled with other personal qualities, these demands to a large extent determine the individual's behavior under different circumstances and, in the end, the direction of his or her life.

Risk Attitudes Profiler will help you become aware of and begin to appreciate these subconscious urges you may feel. Understanding them will weaken their negative impact on your personality and help your positive character traits take the upper hand. In turn, this will make it easier for you to realize your potential and avoid many mistakes in the future.

Risk Attitudes Profiler: Test Results

The premium Risk Attitudes Profiler will include an exact numeric score of the respondent’s Risk Propensity Index and a custom-tailored Risk Attitude Profile, including quantitative measures of expression of the specific risk types respondent’s personal profile may comprise. The deliverables will also include personalized descriptions of respondent’s risk types and a few pages of recommendations and tips on how to promote personal growth and overcome any shortcomings typical of people with the respondent’s specific risk attitude profile.

The first chart on the premium assessment illustrates the respondent’s personal Risk Propensity Index (RPI), which measures the need for risk-taking vs. safety and stability. The values for this index range from 0% to 100%.

A reading over 85% would be typical of people who tend to engage in very risky behavior. Values below 35% suggest a personal preference for safety and stability.

Taking the free test, the respondent will receive a qualitative description of his or her Risk Propensity Index and About Risk Attitudes.