The role of apathy, personal insecurity, and socio-economic status in formation of risk-taking behavior among university students

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of the current study was to explore the role of apathy and personal insecurity in risk-taking behavior among university students. Furthermore, it examined the influence of socio-economic factors (such as age, gender, and education) on risk-taking behavior. For this purpose, 882 university students elicited their responses through self-structured questionnaire. Factor analysis and reliability analysis were applied to test the reliability, validity, and robustness of scales. Bivariate analysis was used to test hypothesis, independent T-test was used to examine the differences in categories of risk-taking behavior, and multiple linear regression was used to scrutinize model fit. There was association between apathy, personal insecurity, socio-economic characteristics (such as gender, education, and father education) and risk-taking behavior of the university students. The current study would add to empirical foundation to build a theoretical framework of risk-taking behavior based on education, age, income, and residential background. This study contributes to the academic scholarship by explaining individual differences based on socio-economic status in prediction of risk-taking behavior. Furthermore, it provides a different theoretical insight and logical explanation of risk-taking propensity for constructs of apathy and personal insecurity. To the best knowledge of the researchers, it is first study to explain the association apathy, personal insecurity and risk-taking behavior through quantification of data among resourceful group of youth.

KEYWORDS:

• Apathy
• personal insecurity
• socio-economic status
• risk-taking behavior
• university students
• youth development
• Pakistan