Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
Utilizing the principles and concepts of behavioral economics and operant psychology, researchers in both fields initiated the creation of the optimal foraging theory. This theory describes foraging behaviors mostly within animals other than humans. However, within recent empirical studies, optimal foraging theory has been modified to explain risky choices and decision-making processes within the context of risk-sensitive foraging theory for both animals and humans alike. Although most individuals belonging to the homo sapiens species would not like to admit that their behavior is very animalistic in nature, there is a great deal of veracity behind this idea, ranging from explaining gambling behavior to addictive behaviors to even homicide. Risk prone behavior describes behavior elicited for the potential gain of rewards under certain conditions, usually competitive in nature. The purpose of the current paper is to shed some light on this topic and how it relates to the most primitive of behaviors exhibited by human beings.
Department
Psychology
Publication Title
International Journal of Psychological Studies
Recommended Citation
Wolf, S. M., & Houlihan, D. (2018). Behavioral perspectives on risk prone behavior: Why do people take risks? International Journal of Psychological Studies, 10(2), 71-77. doi:10.5539/ijps.v10n2p71
DOI
10.5539/ijps.v10n2p71
Link to Publisher Version (DOI)
Publisher's Copyright and Source
Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
