ABSTRACT
Risk taking/cautiousness is a personality dimension that refers to an individual’s preference for selecting high-payoff/low-probability or low-pay-off/high-probability alternatives. In educational and training situations, numerous opportunities exist in which the decisions individuals make involve actual or perceived risk to self-esteem, success, or well-being. Examples include responding in class, selecting response strategies for achievement or standardized ability exams, selecting courses that are “known” to be difficult, or even learning new patterns of study (Ely, 1986).
