title: Motivational Affordance and Risk-Taking Across Decision Domains.
abstract: We propose a motivational affordance account to explain both stability and variability in risk-taking propensity in major decision domains. We draw on regulatory focus theory to differentiate two types of motivation (prevention, promotion) that play a key role in predicting risk-taking. Study 1 demonstrated that prevention motivation is negatively associated with risk-taking across six key decision domains, including health/safety, ethics, recreation, gambling, investment, and social. In contrast, promotion motivation is positively associated with risk-taking in the social and investment domains. Study 2 replicated the same pattern and provided direct evidence that promotion motivation is a strong predictor of risk-taking only in domains where there is true potential for gains. Study 3 manipulated promotion (vs. prevention) motivation experimentally to demonstrate that motivational affordance is a critical mechanism for understanding risk-taking behaviors.
authors.affiliation: London Business School, UK czou@london.edu.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Abigail A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Scholer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012306:Risk; D012309:Risk-Taking
keywords: domain-specific risk-taking; motivational affordance; regulatory focus