The relation between self-confidence and risk-taking among the students

INTRODUCTION: Self-confidence means recognizing your abilities, self-interest, and being aware of your feelings. Risk-taking is one of the personality traits that may be affected by confidence. It can be defined as behavior that increases the probability of negative consequences. Considering the importance of students’ self-confidence and its relation with risk-taking, the aim of this study is to study the relation between self-confidence and risk-taking among the students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2017. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was done on 363 students of TUMS by stratified sampling. The tool for collecting data is based on a self-confidence questionnaire and a risk-taking questionnaire developed by Moradi et al. Data analysis was performed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 21.86 years and 54.5% of participants were girls and the rest were boys. No significant correlation was observed between risk-taking and self-confidence in students according to the Pearson's coefficient test (r = 0.05, P = 0.29). CONCLUSION: The results indicated that there is no relation between self-confidence and risk-taking among students, and students who have higher self-confidence are not exposed to high risks. Therefore, we need more studies in different age groups to validate this exact relationship.