Differential Correlates of Positive and Negative Risk Taking in Adolescence

Positive risks benefit adolescent development without posing the same public safety concerns as negative risks, but little is understood about the psychological characteristics of positive risk taking. This study explored the shared and unique correlates of positive and negative risk taking in 223 adolescents (48% female) ages 16–20 years (M = 18.1; SD = 0.81). Positive and negative risk taking were both associated with higher sensation seeking. Unlike negative risk taking, positive risk taking was not associated with impulsivity or risk taking on experimental tasks. Further, positive risk taking was associated with lower reward sensitivity, higher punishment sensitivity, and greater school engagement than negative risk taking. The findings offer new insights for prevailing models of adolescent risk behavior and suggest positive risk taking may be particularly beneficial in the school context.