RISK BEHAVIOR - TOWARDS A MODEL OF AFFECTIVELY CONSTRUED ACTION

The purpose of the study was to examine the relation between mental co nstruals of risk-related behaviour and self-reported behaviour perform ance (ie. car-speeding). The study is integrative theoretically buildi ng upon Personal Construct Theory and conceptual frameworks developed in emotion research. Construals of speeding and non-speeding were meas ured by 15 semantic differential scales, comprising both cognitive asp ects (e.g. control and risk perception) and emotional aspects (e.g. fe ar, happiness) (N=1075). Construals were found to be organised within a two-dimensional structure, interpreted as basically affective. Repor ted speeding behaviour was related to both dimensions of construal, an d construals of both the risk behaviour and the alternative behaviour had independent effects upon behaviour (Multiple R=0.65, P<0.001). Int erpretation of the results focuses on the underlying affective qualiti es of the construals as motivators in the process of risk behaviour ge neration. A Model of Affectively Construed Action (MACA), comprising t he notion of emotional cybernetics, is proposed as a framework for und erstanding risk behaviour. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.