Introduction to Risky Decisions
Decisions, decisions! While some decisions are easy to make, such as what to eat for dinner, others are more difficult. Think about anything related to moving, relationships, or work. Now science has narrowed down exactly which life decisions people consider to be the riskiest.
The Study
A new large-scale study published in the journal Psychological Science found that some of life’s most difficult questions have a consistent theme. Instead of choosing between hypothetical scenarios presented to them by researchers, more than 4,000 participants were asked to list recent difficult decisions they had made. The study authors categorized what participants wrote down using word clouds and then compiled the 100 riskiest decisions.
Riskiest Decisions
Decisions related to work and career dominated the table. The riskiest decision, regardless of age or gender, was whether or not to take a new job, followed by quitting the job. The fifth biggest decision was whether someone should become self-employed. Investing was now the third riskiest life decision, with study participants frequently mentioning stocks, cryptocurrencies, and trading in their answers.
Other Risky Decisions
The decision to drive was the fourth biggest decision participants had to make, particularly when they were tired, distracted, in bad weather, or drunk. Even though people make a decision to get behind the wheel every day, it’s not surprising that it’s considered risky, given that more than 40,900 people died in car accidents in the USA in 2023. The sixth most risky decision people make is when buying a house, with the words “new purchase”, “investment”, and “real estate purchase” often coming up.
Health and Social Decisions
To round out the ten most important life decisions, the final four decisions fell into the health and social categories. Choosing surgery or vaccination were the seventh and ninth risks people take, respectively. Finally, eighth and tenth places related to social aspects of life, with participants citing marriage or moving to a new country, respectively.
Surprising Findings
What surprised researchers most was that the most common answers did not involve health or social activities such as dating or solo travel. Rather, their findings were reversed. “This was quite an interesting finding, but according to our data it seems to be a bit the other way around,” said a study co-author. “First and foremost, people think about career-risky decisions.”
Conclusion
Age also played a role in some decisions, with older adults viewing taking a new job as risky, while younger adults viewed quitting a job as risky. Regardless, researchers believe these findings may help provide better decision-making support to diverse groups. “These more nuanced patterns essentially help us understand which subgroups of the population are exposed to which risky decisions.”
