Risky But Alluring: Severe COVID-19 Pandemic Influence Increases Risk Taking

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives to a profound extent. In this research, we examined how the pandemic might have influenced people's general risk attitude in their daily lives. Across four studies (two preregistered) using U.S. online worker and Canadian university student samples, we observed that individuals who were severely affected by the pandemic showed higher risk taking toward a variety of risky activities than those who were less severely affected. We attributed this effect to elevated boredom levels and increased perceived benefits from taking risks among the severely affected group and provided supporting evidence. Data ruled out risk perception, income, employment status, and response biases as alternative explanations. Our findings shed light on the psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, decision under risk, the role of perceived benefits of risk taking, and effective policy interventions.