As a young teenager I always considered myself rather “reckless” in comparison to my peers. I was always the first to try new things and never the last person to attempt something others may view as “unsafe”. I truly never questioned why that was. Thinking back on it, I could probably contribute my risky actions to my genes, upbringing, enthusiasm, or my love for adventure. It took until last week for me to consider one variable that could have heavily impacted my risk-taking ways. Last week I participated in a World In Conversation session as a requirement for one of my classes. For those of you who aren’t aware of what World In Conversation is, I’ll quickly explain it. It is an hour and a half long session that consists of six people, two students in your specific class (a classmate and myself), two foreign students who have just arrived at Penn State this semester, and two facilitators who ask questions and analyze the conversation. The conversation is composed of questions regarding different topics such as race, culture, and the overall differences of individuals ways of life from different geographical regions. One of the foreign students in my session was from Kuwait, and when he began explaining his culture and their way of life in his country, I found myself in complete disbelief. He mentioned that they do not drink alcohol, do drugs, and cannot have any relationships prior to marriage. I for one, have consumed alcohol, experimented with marijuana, and have had several girlfriends. At the exact moment he wrapped up his response, It hit me as to why I might tend to be riskier than him. And I believe that this can be attributed to the environment I grew up in and the environment I currently live in.

“New research finds that teenage risky behavior is influenced by the country in which a teen grows up. And, growing up in the U.S. appears to led to an overabundance of sensation-seeking behaviors.” The research was based off of a study that regarded sensation-seeking behavior in teenagers. The study was conducted on 3,000 children, half of the children were from the United States (South Bronx to be exact) and the other half of the children were from Puerto Rico. The children were asked a series of questions such as, Do you find that riding very fast and doing tricks on a skateboard is fun? “Rates of sensation-seeking were consistently higher in the South Bronx than Puerto Rico, and youth in the South Bronx generally reported sensation-seeking at an earlier age.”

Silvia Martins, associate professor of epidemiology, was one of the top researchers in this study and offered insight as to why the research presented these findings. “Children born into families of migrants scored higher in sensation-seeking either because they inherited a ‘novelty-seeking’ trait from their parents, or because they were exposed to family environments and different parenting practices that promoted certain behaviors.” Martins also noted that the children living in the South Bronx were frequently exposed to violence and stressful live events compared to the children in Puerto Rico.

So next time you encounter a person who you view as an extremist or someone who you think might “have a screw loose”, consider the fact that their behaviors might be correlated to other factors such as the environment they grew up in. You know how the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover!

SITES:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/10/22/teen-risk-taking-varies-by-country/93823.html

http://www.eurekalert.org/

http://worldinconversation.org/