Gullible Decision Hypothesis: What Factors Influence Individuals When Taking Risks?

Abigail Gaskell. 2015

Abstract
Research has found that an individual’s mood at the point of making a decision may leave them significantly more vulnerable during aspects of risky decision making. Specifically, research has found that an individual is significantly more likely to take a risk if they are in a positive mood at the point of making the decision. Additionally, research has shown that the level of risk associated to the outcome of a decision significantly influences an individual’s decision making. Research has revealed that participants are more likely to make an affirmative decision if they perceive the level of risk to be low, meaning participants believe the potential benefits outweigh the potential losses. Past research was used to predict that participants would be significantly more likely to take a risk associating to scenarios of fraud if they perceive there to be a low level of risk and are in a positive mood at the time of making their decision. The experiment consisted of 60 participants, 31 males and 29 females. Results indicated that the level of risk associated to the outcome of a decision significantly influenced participant’s risky decision making in relation to situations of fraud.