Helmet wearing increases risk taking and sensation seeking

Wearing a helmet in an effort to stay safe is likely to increase sensation seeking and could conversely make us less safe and more inclined to take risks, according to a significant new study from our researchers. The latest findings call into question the effectiveness of certain safety advice, notably in relation to helmets for various leisure activities, including cycling. But, the researchers suggest, their conclusions have wider-reaching implications in other contexts too, potentially even for decision making on the battlefield. Risk taking and sensation-seeking behaviour. For their latest study published recently in the journal Psychological Science , Dr Tim Gamble and Dr Ian Walker , from the Department of Psychology , measured sensation-seeking behaviour and analysed risk taking in adults aged 17-56 using a computer-based simulation. Under the pretence that participants were taking part in an eye-tracking experiment, the researchers split 80 participants into two groups: half wore a bicycle helmet and half wore a baseball cap. Individuals were tasked with inflating an on-screen animated balloon whilst wearing either the cap or the helmet - which they were told was just there to support an eye-tracking device.