On the construct of subjective risk intelligence: relationships with personality, emotional intelligence and coping strategies. A comparison between adolescents and adults.

Abstract

Abstract Background The complexity of today's scenario has made it necessary to investigate the need for individuals to make choices that entail increasing exposure to risk and uncertainty. Among the individual resources that could help people to cope with situations of uncertainty, the new construct of subjective risk intelligence, known as a person's ability to effectively weigh the pros and cons of a decision in situations where not all outcomes are foreseen, would seem to play a prominent role. Considering that personality and coping strategies have been shown to be significantly related in previous research, the present study investigates the relationship between subjective risk intelligence, emotional intelligence, personality traits and coping strategies in both adults and adolescents.Methods The cross sectional study was conducted on 1390 Italian people, divided into two subsamples: 641 adolescents and 749 adults.Results The results showed that subjective risk intelligence mediates the role that personality traits and emotional intelligence have on coping strategies, thus influencing the choice of effective or ineffective strategies in both adults and adolescents, highlighting several differences between the two groups.Conclusion Subjective risk intelligence could be activated in order to deal with uncertain and risky situations. Suggestions for future research and interventions were given.