Is adolescence believed to be a period of greater risk taking than adulthood?

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples of the syllogisms displayed to the participants in the present study according to their structure (no conflict and conflict) for each type of content (control, adolescent-related and adult-related content) translated in English.

	Structure	Control content	Adolescent-related content	Adult-related content
NO-CONFLICT	Valid High-believable	Ravens are birds, Birds have wings that allow them to fly, Thus, ravens have wings that allow them to fly.	Adolescents smoke pot when they go out, When they go out adolescents are in groups, Thus, adolescents smoke pot when they are in groups.	Adults smoke pot when they go out, When they go out adults are in groups, Thus, adults smoke pot when they are in groups.
	Invalid Low-believable	Big cars need fuel, Airplanes carrying passengers need fuel, Thus, airplanes carrying passengers are big cars.	Friendly people are friends, Adolescents skip class when there are no friendly people, Thus, adolescents skip class when there are no friends.	Friendly people are friends, Adults skip class when there are no friendly people, Thus, adults skip class when there are no friends.
CONFLICT	Valid Low-believable	Swallows are birds that fly, Birds that fly have bright multicolored feathers, Thus, swallows have bright multicolored feathers.	Adolescents smoke pot when they go out, When they go out adolescents are alone, Thus, adolescents smoke pot when they are alone.	Adults smoke pot when they go out, When they go out adults are alone, Thus, adults smoke pot when they are alone.
	Invalid High-believable	Things with an engine need fuel, Convertible sports cars need fuel, Thus, convertible sports cars have engines.	Friends are nice people, Adolescents skip class with nice people, Thus, adolescents skip class with their friends.	Friends are nice people, Adults skip class with nice people, Thus, adults skip class with their friends.

Figure 1. Average risk perception scale.

Note. Average risk perception index for each target (adolescence, adulthood and self) and both age groups (adolescents and adults).

*** p < .001; ns = not significant. Error bars represent standard errors of the means.

Figure 2. Mean agreement with statements relating to risk-taking behaviours in the absence or presence of peers.

Note. *p < .05, ***p < .001. Error bars represent standard errors of the means

Figure 3. Mean belief bias index (and standard deviations) for each type of syllogism content (control, adolescence-related, and adulthood-related) and for each age group (adolescents and adults).

Note. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. We compared the mean belief-bias indices to zero (one-sample t tests with zero as the test value, Holm-Bonferroni corrected). Error bars represent standard errors of the means.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article or its supplementary materials.