Bridging the gap between psychology and biology : a behavioral genetics quasi-experimental method to understand personality, risk perception, and physical risk-taking behavior /

Despite what are often serious consequences, risk-taking behavior related to drug use, sexual practices, and adventure sports is common but uneven--some individuals are highly disposed to novelty seeking and are risk prone, whereas others are quite the opposite. To study risk taking, I developed an...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schmolesky, Matthew T. (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: London : SAGE Publications Ltd, 2018.
Series:SAGE Research Methods. Cases.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Description
Summary:Despite what are often serious consequences, risk-taking behavior related to drug use, sexual practices, and adventure sports is common but uneven--some individuals are highly disposed to novelty seeking and are risk prone, whereas others are quite the opposite. To study risk taking, I developed an undergraduate-centered interdisciplinary research program to address single genetic variations, personality traits, and risk perceptions that may contribute to individual variation in these behaviors. This methodological approach allows for a connection between biological and psychological levels of analysis. Practical and ethical constraints led to development of a quasi-experimental design to gauge the impact of pre-existing participant variables (genotype, gender, religiosity) on the outcome variables (risk taking and risk perception). To offer insight into the real-world application of these research methods, I describe the benefits and costs of using this interdisciplinary behavioral genetics approach; I also address the challenges and setbacks my group experienced and the lessons learned along the way.
Physical Description:1 online resource.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9781526440846
1526440849