You Know It’s Risky, So Why Do You??

Research indicates that while clearly understanding the risks, people persist in bad habits and risky behavior. Dr. Cindy Jardine, professor of rural sociology at the University of Alberta, recently reported these findings at the RiskCom 2006 Conference in Sweden.

“When asked to rate the danger of various types of risks including lifestyle habits, subjects clearly understood what types of behavior are the riskiest, but simply knowing isn’t enough to motivate them to change.” Prof. Jardine speculates why there might be such a disconnect between knowledge and behavior.

“For instance, stress is bad for us, yet we wear it as a badge of honor. It is seen as a socially desirable thing to be overworking. We don’t seem to have the same respect for people who work a 40-hour week. As well, we don’t like to hear about what we shouldn’t be doing, so we rationalize our bad habits. We all have a bit of recalcitrant child in us.”

Prof. Jardine admits that until the psychology behind risky behaviour is really understood, people won’t give up their vices, no matter how much they know.

Of course, there must be a better explanation. Let’s consider for a moment why it is that people persist in such behaviors? I find that people tend to engage in the types of activities mentioned because each affords a measure of pleasure. The smoker takes a drag. The workaholic enjoys the pleasure associated with achievement. These feelings are immediately present, as opposed to an imagined feeling associated with a distant future event or situation.

Jardine claims that while stress is bad, people carry it as a sign of honor. One must also consider that while presenting long term risks stress indicates excitatory processes. Perhaps the workaholic is leveraging innate physiological responses to environmental stimuli to continue pursuing an objective (or goal), the attainment of which brings with it feelings of achievement.

While Jardine identifies the aforementioned risky behaviors as “bad,” one ought to consider how such behavior may in fact provide benefits across multiple emotional and/or motivational dimensions. At the time one adopts such behaviors and for years thereafter, such immediate benefits may well outweigh the perceived risks in an imagined and distant future.

Source Material:University of Alberta.