In the startup world, entrepreneurial risk-takers are often viewed in a positive light.  In other contexts, risk-takers can be viewed as reckless and irresponsible.  Research from Northwestern University suggests that as well as context influencing our perceptions of risk-takers, so too does race.

The study found that we tend to view white risk-takers as responsible whereas Black risk-takers were viewed as reckless.

“If, on average, a Black, relative to a white, person is perceived to engage in more reckless risk-taking, this could translate into someone being less willing to take a chance on that person (such as investing resources in them), or more likely to assume that they will make an impulsive decision that could lead to a negative outcome,” the researchers explain.

“Relative to white men, Black men tend to be perceived as more reckless in a variety of settings, even though there is little to no evidence that they are bigger risk-takers.”

Taking a risk

The researchers conducted five experiments to understand how we tend to perceive both responsible and reckless risk-taking, and whether our racial stereotypes play a part in those perceptions.

Participants underwent perception studies of both faces and behavioral traits, as well as an economics investment game, a reverse correlation experiment of composites of faces, and an experiment whereby they had to judge a risk-taker based on stereotypically white or Black tweets.

Across each of these experiments, reckless risk-takers were commonly perceived to have racial stereotypes common with Black men, such as being unreliable, impulsive, or quick-tempered.  By contrast, more responsible risk-takers were viewed as having characteristics more commonly associated with white stereotypes, such as intelligence and ambition.

“Finding a consistent pattern across the experiments provides greater confidence that the findings were not just an artifact of one method but a more prevalent phenomenon,” the researchers say.

They reveal that while there are quite evident stereotypes when we think about other people, it was not previously understood how this might apply to risk-taking.

“This is something that had not been documented previously, yet such a bias could potentially influence our social perceptions, judgements and behaviors in situations in which the assessment of risk in others is common and consequential, such as in health care, financial lending and policing,” they explain.