Psychologists Identify Common Risky Decisions, Revealing workplace Concerns Dominate
A new study published in Psychological Science has compiled a list of the 100 riskiest decisions people are likely to face in their lives, offering a unique, data-driven perspective on how individuals perceive risk. Researchers from the university of Zurich, led by Benjamin Frey and Tobias Fischer, bypassed traditional theoretical approaches to ask participants directly about recent risky choices they’d made. The results revealed a surprising emphasis on occupational risks.
The study found that work-related decisions were cited most frequently as risky, accounting for nearly 30% of responses.This contrasts with existing decision research which often prioritizes health or leisure as primary concerns. According to Frey, the data suggests people “first and foremost” consider occupational risks.
Beyond identifying the dominant category, the research highlighted how perceptions of risk vary based on demographic factors. Age played a meaningful role, with younger individuals more likely to identify quitting a job without a replacement as risky, while older participants viewed changing positions as the greater risk – a pattern aligning with typical career stages. Gender differences also emerged; men were twice as likely as women to cite “accepting 5G” as a recent risky decision, and men in their 30s and 40s expressed more concern about undergoing surgery than women of any age.
These nuanced patterns, Frey explained, can help policymakers understand which populations might benefit from targeted support or decision-making tools.”This helps us understand essentially which subgroups of the population are exposed to which risky choices,” he stated.
Though, the researchers caution against broad generalizations. The study’s participant pool was limited to German-speaking individuals in Switzerland, a country characterized by low crime rates and a high quality of life. The team acknowledges that the definition of “risky” may differ significantly in other contexts, such as the United States, where issues like gun violence, healthcare affordability, and job security present distinct challenges. They advise that the list “should […] not be directly taken as a measurement scale and used blindly to gauge real-life risk taking in other cultures and populations,” but could serve as a valuable starting point for cross-cultural comparisons.
Frey and Fischer emphasize that their study isn’t intended to replace existing theoretical frameworks,but rather to provide a valuable “checkup” for the field. They advocate for a balance between theoretical examination and data-driven, discovery-oriented research, suggesting this approach should be incorporated “at least every once in a while” into psychological science.
The study is available in its entirety in Psychological Science: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976251384975
