Differences between risk perception and risk-taking are related to impulsivity levels Megías Robles, A. Cándido Ortiz, Antonio Maldonado López, Antonio Baltruschat, Sabina Anna Catena Martínez, Andrés Risk behavior Risk perception Impulsivity Emotion Decision making Background Although there is broad agreement that perceived risks determine risk-taking behavior, previous research has shown that this association may not be as straightforward as expected. The main objective of this study was to investigate if the levels of impulsivity can explain part of these controversial findings. Method A total of 1579 participants (Mage = 23.06, from 18 to 60 years; 69.4% women) were assessed for levels of risk perception, risk-taking avoidance, and impulsivity. Results The results showed that while impulsivity was significantly and negatively related to both risk perception and risk-taking avoidance, the relationship with risk-taking avoidance was significantly stronger than with risk perception. The levels of impulsivity predicted risk-taking avoidance even when controlling for risk perception. Conclusions These findings indicate that impulsivity can differentially affect risk perception and risk-taking. We propose that the stronger influence of impulsivity on risk-taking is due to the greater reliance of risk-taking, compared with risk perception, on automatic processes guided by impulses and emotions. 2022-09-02T08:25:19Z 2022-09-02T08:25:19Z 2022-07-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article A. Megías-Robles... [et al.]. Differences between risk perception and risk-taking are related to impulsivity levels, International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, Volume 22, Issue 3, 2022, 100318, ISSN 1697-2600, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2022.100318] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/76475 10.1016/j.ijchp.2022.100318 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier