Updating Risk: Motivational Preparedness Factors of Risk Perceptions, Risk Taking, and Coping Through Self-Regulation

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Peter M. Gollwitzer, Ph.D.; Dr. Lucas Keller
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 441551024

• Final Report Year: 2023

Final Report Abstract

How to deal with the start of a research project on motivational determinants of risk perception and risk-taking behavior coinciding with the onset of a pandemic? In various adaptations and modifications, our project examined different aspects of risk perception and behavior in the context of the pandemic and in general. For instance, we investigated whether formulating if-then plans can reduce the risk of contagion by helping people to regulate their behavior. Formulating if-then plans is an established strategy of action control that can be used in many areas of life to improve goal attainment. In the present project, we investigated how such plans can help prevent unwanted, automatic face touching. Further, we looked at aspects such as perceptions of leadership and risk-taking among policymakers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined whether gender stereotypes about risk-taking in this context contribute to the view prevalent in the media and individual research articles that women govern better than men in such times of crisis. In a study on risky alcohol use among college students, we examined the effectiveness of a mindset-supported brief intervention. We obtained three main results in our project: (1) plans can be used to selectively control involuntary and automatic actions such as face touching. This result was most evident in reducing the duration of face touching rather than the frequency of face touching. (2) Risk-taking by political leaders in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is defined primarily by political ideology. Concomitantly, the perceptions of such decision-makers are more influenced by the political ideology of the perceivers than by the exhibited risk-taking of political leaders. (3) A motivational brief intervention reduces alcohol consumption among risky drinking students in the four weeks following the intervention. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, however, we find no evidence for moderation by action phase-related mindsets activated during the goal-striving process. In addition to these key findings, we used tasks such as the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and the Beads Task to provide further insights into the diversity of risk-taking behavior and understand phenomena brought into focus by the pandemic. For one, the BART is more sensitive than self-report measures of willingness to take risks when distinguishing extreme athletes from members of the normal population. For another, jumping to conclusions in the Beads Task is related to conspiracy beliefs, even when controlling for individual differences in different thinking styles or risk propensity.

Publications

• If-then planning. European Review of Social Psychology, 32(1), 88-122.
  Bieleke, Maik; Keller, Lucas & Gollwitzer, Peter M.
  
• Bursting balloons -comparison of risk taking between extreme sports, esports, and the general public. Current Psychology, 42(14), 12229-12240.
  Keller, Lucas; Bieleke, Maik & Wolff, Wanja
  
• Controlling unwanted behavior: Reducing face touching during the pandemic [Talk]. 2021 APS Virtual Convention.
  Kabengele, M.-C.; Keller, L. & Gollwitzer, P. M.
  
• Deliberative versus implemental mindsets in the Beads Task - Fewer draws-to-decision and increased jumping to conclusions in the implemental mindset [Poster]. 2021 APS Virtual Convention.
  Büchele, N.; Keller, L.; op t.’ Roodt, H. & Gollwitzer, P. M.
  
• Extreme sports and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task - Meaningful differences between snowboarders, climbers, non-athletes, and competitive video gamers [Poster]. 2021 APS Virtual Convention.
  Keller, L.; Bieleke, M. & Wolff, W.
  
• How can we master the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic? The role of planning at social levels. European Review of Social Psychology, 32(1), 1-46.
  Thürmer, J. Lukas; Wieber, Frank & Gollwitzer, Peter M.
  
• Observing face-touching behavior in a remote setting [Talk]. Innovations in Online Research Conference.
  Keller, L.; Kabengele, M.-C. & Gollwitzer, P. M.
  
• Overclaiming is not related to dark triad personality traits or stated and revealed risk preferences. PLOS ONE, 16(8), e0255207.
  Keller, Lucas; Bieleke, Maik; Koppe, Kim-Marie & Gollwitzer, Peter M.
  
• The self-regulation of face touching -a preregistered experiment testing if-then plans as a means to promote COVID-19 prevention. Psychology & Health, 38(8), 1089-1107.
  Keller, Lucas; Kabengele, Marie-Claire & Gollwitzer, Peter M.
  
• A randomized controlled study on the effectiveness of a brief intervention combined with a mindset induction to reduce khat use among university students of Jimma, Ethiopia [Talk]. 18. Congress of the German Society for Behavioral Medicine and Behavior Modification, Salzburg, Austria.
  Büchele, N.; Hassen, M. T.; Keller, L.; Kabengele, M.-C.; Soboka, M. & Odenwald, M.
  
• Boredom Proneness Predicts Self-Assessed Decision Errors in Sports but Is Unrelated to Risk Taking in General. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3479.
  Wolff, Wanja; Bieleke, Maik & Keller, Lucas
  
• Further Evidence for (Ideo-)logical Reasoning: Forgoing Money to Adhere to Ideology [Talk]. 52nd Congress of the German Psychological Association: Hildesheim, Germany
  Keller, L.; Hazelaar, F.; Gollwitzer, P. M. & Oettingen, G.
  
• Gendered Leadership Stereotypes and Risk in the Era of Covid-19 [Talk]. 52nd DGPs Convention, Hildesheim, Germany.
  Kabengele, M.-C.; Keller, L. & Gollwitzer, P. M.
  
• Getting trapped in a dead end? Trait self-control and boredom are linked to goal adjustment. Motivation and Emotion, 46(6), 837-851.
  Bieleke, Maik; Wolff, Wanja & Keller, Lucas
  
• Motivating students to curb their risky drinking - mindset induction to boost the effectiveness of a brief intervention [Talk]. 18. Congress of the German Society for Behavioral Medicine and Behavior Modification, Salzburg, Austria.
  Keller, L.; Büchele, N.; Kabengele, M.-C.; Gollwitzer, P. M. & Odenwald, M.
  
• Research on the self-regulation of face-touching: Running a remote observational experiment. Cloudresearch.
  Keller, L. & Kabengele, M.-C.
  
• Conspiracy Beliefs and Jumping to Conclusions. Center for Open Science.
  Kabengele, Marie-Claire; Gollwitzer, Peter M. & Keller, Lucas
  
• Do Reasoning Styles and Jumping to Conclusions Predict Conspiracy Beliefs? [Poster]. ICPS Convention 2023, Brussels, Belgium.
  Kabengele, M.-C.; Keller, L. & Gollwitzer, P. M.
  
• Gendered leadership perception and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are women perceived as better leaders in a health crisis?. Center for Open Science.
  Kabengele, Marie-Claire; Keller, Lucas & Gollwitzer, Peter M.
  
• New directions for reducing risk behaviors in people with mental health problems – Can psychotherapy be bolstered by basic motivational interventions? [Symposium]. 18. Congress of the German Society for Behavioral Medicine and Behavior Modification, Salzburg, Austria.
  Odenwald, M. & Keller, L.
  
• Political ideology and environmentalism impair logical reasoning. Thinking & Reasoning, 30(1), 79-108.
  Keller, Lucas; Hazelaar, Felix; Gollwitzer, Peter M. & Oettingen, Gabriele