Playing It Too Safe: Does Self-Affirmation Embolden Risk-Taking in Hypothetical Job Interviews?

Previous research suggests that self-affirmation may increase risk-taking in social and financial domains. The present study examined how self-affirmation influences risk-taking behavior in a hypothetical job interview context. Prolific workers (N = 711) were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or a control condition and subsequently completed measures assessing their risk-taking tendencies and confidence in the job interview. We hypothesized that participants in the self-affirmation condition would exhibit greater risk-taking and confidence compared to those in the control condition; however, no significant differences emerged between conditions. Additionally, we explored the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and found that participants with higher SES reported greater confidence about the interview and were more willing to take risks in the financial domain. This study was preregistered, and all data and materials are publicly available on the Open Science Framework (OSF; i.e., https://osf.io/f5s6q/). Our research explores the potential role of self-affirmation in shaping confidence and risk-taking in job-related contexts.