A Motivational Perspective on Risky Behaviors: The Role of Personality and Affect Regulatory Processes

Abstract

The present study tested a motivational model in which personality influences on risky behaviors were hypothesized to be primarily indirectly mediated, by shaping the nature and quality of emotional experience as well as characteristic styles of coping with these emotions. This model was tested in a representative community sample of 1,666 young adults, aged 18 to 25 years old. Results revealed strong support for the model, indicating that broad traits related to neuroticism and extraversion promote involvement in alcohol use and risky sex via distinct pathways. Neurotic individuals were prone to engage in risky behaviors as a way to cope with aversive mood states, whereas extraverted individuals were more likely to engage in risky behaviors as a way to enhance positive affective experience. In contrast, impulsivity directly predicted some forms of risk taking, and interacted with extraversion and neuroticism to predict motives for risky behaviors. The model provides a highly general though not complete account of risky behaviors.

A diathesis-stress model of engagement in risky behaviors in Chinese adolescents

“…The co-occurrence of multiple types of risky behaviors is particularly worrisome as it increases the likelihood of negative long-term consequences (e.g., drug dependency, legal troubles, and unplanned pregnancy) as well as predicts poorer psychosocial functioning throughout adulthood (Bardone, Moffit, Caspi, & Dickson, 1996;Markey, Markey, & Tinsley, 2003). Thus, as the current study examined vulnerability/protective factors that are likely to predict a broad array of risky behaviors and utilized a sample that is likely to engage in an inconsistent range of risky behaviors, in line with past research, the current study examined broad-based engagement in risky behaviors (e.g., Cooper, Agocha, & Sheldon, 2000;Markey et al, 2003;Youngblade, Curry, Novak, Vogel, & Shenkman, 2006).…”

Drinking Motives in the Prospective Prediction of Unique Alcohol-Related Consequences in College Students

“…Although coping motives are shown to be associated with consequences in college students (Carey and Correia, 1997;Kassel et al, 2000), evidence that coping motives are associated with greater alcohol use is more equivocal. Although some research supports an association (Cooper et al, 2000;Labouvie and Bates, 2002), other research, particularly with college students, has not shown a direct link between coping motives and alcohol use (LaBrie et al, 2012;Magid et al, 2007;Merrill and Read, 2010;Patrick et al, 2011). Of importance, however, theory and data suggest that coping motives predict alcohol consequences regardless of quantity or frequency of drinking (Cooper et al, 1995;Molnar et al, 2010;Patrick et al, 2011;Read et al, 2003).…”

Coping Motives Moderate Efficacy of Personalized Normative Feedback Among Heavy Drinking U.S. College Students

“…Although norms may be especially relevant for socially focused drinkers because of the social comparison component of norms, they may be less relevant for coping-motivated drinkers. Drinking to cope with negative affect has been identified as an indicator of heavy (Cooper et al, 2000;Labouvie & Bates, 2002;Montgomery et al, 1993) and problematic drinking (Kuntsche et al, 2005(Kuntsche et al, , 2008Lewis et al, 2008;Martens et al, 2008).…”