A Normative Lay Theory of Risk-Taking: Using Peripheral Features to Disambiguate Risk

Given the ambiguity of risk, we propose that people use peripheral features to conceive risk-taking as either responsible or reckless. Findings from six preregistered experiments confirm that when holding outcome odds constant, observers (Ntotal = 1517) perceive risk-taking as responsible (vs. reckless) when framed as competent, deliberative, prosocial, and successful.