Introduction: Cognitive conflict, when internal thoughts and beliefs clash, can significantly impact risk-taking behavior. Young adults are particularly vulnerable to increased risk-taking under cognitive conflict, often due to ongoing developmental changes and social pressures. This conflict can disrupt cognitive control, leading to impulsive decisions and potentially harmful behaviors.
Purpose: The current study examined the relationship between cognitive conflict and risk-taking behavior in young adults. We also investigated whether threat sensitivity and personality traits mediate this relationship.
Methods: We recruited 204 participants (118 males, 86 females), aged 18-25 (mean ± S.D. = 20.55 ± 2.15), from northwestern India. All participants completed behavioral assessments to evaluate their cognitive conflict, risk-taking behavior, threat sensitivity, and personality using a computerized Stroop task, RT-18, TF-44, and the Big Five personality inventory, respectively.
Results: Correlation analyses revealed that cognitive conflict was positively associated with threat sensitivity and neuroticism but negatively associated with risk-taking behavior, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. Risk-taking behavior correlated positively with extraversion and negatively with conscientiousness and threat sensitivity. Mediation analyses indicated that a combination of pathways fully mediated the negative effect of cognitive conflict on risk-taking behavior. Threat sensitivity and the extraversion personality trait were the primary contributors to the negative indirect effect, while conscientiousness acted as a suppressor.
Conclusions: By outlining these mediating pathways, the study advances theoretical models of decision-making under conflict by emphasizing the critical role of individual differences. The findings suggest that cognitive conflict does not uniformly induce risk-averse behavior; rather, its effect is contingent on affective and dispositional characteristics. For instance, extraverted individuals may maintain their inclination to take risks even when experiencing conflict, whereas individuals with high threat sensitivity become more risk-averse under conflict. This nuanced perspective underscores the importance of considering personality traits and perceived threat levels when interpreting how cognitive demands influence risk-related choices.