Why Teenagers Take Risks

Source: "Teens more likely to embrace unknown," The Omaha World-Herald, 3 October 2012

An interesting study finds that teenagers are more likely to take risks when they don't know what the odds are, but if they know the odds are poor will avoid dangerous situations. Adults will do the opposite. They will avoid situations where the risks are unknown, but they may consider a risky situation if they are confident about the odds, even if those odds are unfavorable.

""Teenagers enter unsafe situations not because they are drawn to dangerous or risky situations, but rather becasue they aren't informed enough about the odds of the consequences of their actions," says Agnieska Tymula, a post doctoral researcher at New York University and co-author of a research paper on the study."

"It is not that adolescents actually choose to engage in risks, but rather they are willing to gamble when they lack complete knowledge."