Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the motives for adolescents risk taking and to analyze motives for adolescent risk taking from the perspectives of egocentrism, peer pressure and socio-economic status variants. 905 students attending four high schools in Ankara took part in the research. There were four different measurement scales in the research. The first one is “Motives for Adolescents’ Risk Taking Scale” which Henry and Kloep’s (2001) classification was taken as the basis to determine the motives of risk taking in adolescents’. During the scale improvement stage correction and elucidation factor analyses were developed. Motives for Adolescents’ Risk Taking Scale, Revised Personal Fable, Revised Imaginary Audience and Peer Pressure Scale were used in this study. As a result of multiple linear regressions analyzes personal fable which is a dimension of egocentrism has been stated as the variable which has the most estimating power. The motives for adolescent risk taking are revealed by personal fable, imaginary audience and peer pressure and a developmental point of view is presented.

Key words: Adolescence, risk taking, egocentrism, personal fable, imaginary audience, peer pressure.