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Helmets may increase risk-taking

25th January 2016

Dr Tim Gamble and Dr Ian Walker, of the University of Bath's psychology department, have published a study showing that wearing a helmet may increase risk-taking. The study was reported in The Guardian.

The doctors measured the risk-taking behaviour of a group of eighty adults, aged 17-56. The participants were told that they were taking part in an eye-tracking experiment. Half wore bike helmets, and half baseball caps. The task they were given involved inflating an on-screen, animated balloon. 

Each inflation of the balloon let participants earn a fictional currency. At any time, they could 'bank' their earnings, but if the balloon burst, they would lose what they had earned.

The researchers found that where the eye-tracking device was mounted on a helmet rather than a baseball cap, the participants scored higher on measures of risk-taking and sensation-seeking.

The Guardian quotes Walker as follows: 'The helmet could make zero difference to the outcome, but people wearing one seemed to take more risks in what was essentially a gambling task. Replicated in real-life settings, this could mean that people using protective equipment might take risks against which that protective equipment cannot reasonably be expected to help.'

Previous studies have shown that people may take more risks when wearing a safety device relevant to the risks, but this is the first study to show they may take more risks when wearing something which will not protect against the risks.

Gamble said, 'All this is not to say that people shouldn't wear safety equipment, but rather to say that the whole topic is far more complicated than most people think. If feeling proctected does make people generally more reckless - which is what these findings imply - then this could affect all sorts of situations...'

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