Psychology of Risk-taking

Book excerpt: This book reviews the main contemporary dimensions in the study of the psychology of risk-taking. In an introduction, the Editor J P Assailly (IFSTTAR) proposes a synthesis on the interactions between the psychological, biological and environmental perspectives on risk-taking, risk perception and risk acceptance. In the genesis of risky decision-making, the authors analyse the dynamic self-regulatory processes, their neuropsychological underpinnings (the dysfunctions of executive functions control and the somatic marker framework /hyperactivity of the limbic system, and hypoactivity of the prefrontal cortex). To treat the consequences of this neuropsychological vulnerability, the authors propose to adapt interventions as brief motivational interviews and contingency management.