Why some people give up everything and get carried away, e.g. without knowing the language, go to a completely foreign country to work, while others are afraid of changes, although the risk they have to take is small?

Michał experienced a story like from a Hollywood movie. - Last year I had a life project: a business trip to Brazil - he says, and at this memory his eye flashes. - It was love at first sight: colors, smells, shapes, sounds … This country stimulated all my senses. I didn't want to go to bed even for a moment - I just didn't want to waste any time to sleep in the world. The people he had to work with suggested that he stay. They offered to help him learn the language and that they would sign a contract with him in advance to reassure him of their pure intentions. And although the situation was perfect, Michał did not accept the offer. He returned to Poland. - I have no wife, no child, no credit to pay off. I was offered a job that suited my qualifications perfectly. Despite this, I got scared and rejected the offer - he says. - I know I won't get this chance a second time. I lost her because I was afraid to take the risk.

What makes some people risk and others not?

Every day you hear about people who overnight dropped everything and went to look for happiness in a foreign country. Some had no choice but to leave good jobs and left for the unknown. Why do some of us have no problem taking a risk, and others decide not to take a similar step, even when they have no reason to fear?

- Theanxiety factoris very important here, explains psychologist and psychotherapist Arkadiusz Bilejczyk. - The overall level of it is a personality trait that we deal with differently as a species. At the same time, people with low levels of anxiety have greater ease in making difficult decisions. On the other hand, those who suffer from it will largely avoid situations that involve any threat, whether material or emotional, but fear is not the only reason why some of us will not take action that requires somerisk.

Predicting the consequences of taking risks

Another important factor is the ability to anticipate, think about the consequences of a given behavior. - Same decision canhave a completely different risk dimension for two different people - says the psychologist. - Let me use a slightly exaggerated example: on one side we have Basia, who has just been offered a job in Krakow. They offer her better financial conditions, a managerial position, the woman knows the city well and likes it. All she has to do is pack her things and convince her husband to look for a new job for himself in Krakow. The risk is small, they can return to Warsaw at any time if something goes wrong. On the other side we have Piotr, who was an unrepentant fan of Legia in his youth. He got the same offer, but it has been known for a long time that a man with a tattoo of the Warsaw club on his back will not be easy to survive in Krakow. The risk here is much greater: it will be more difficult for him - as a supporter of the hostile Legia - to make friends with new friends, to have a normal social life.

Risk: profit and loss balance first

The attractiveness of the reward that can be earned is also important in taking risks. What reward would Michael have been waiting for if he had stayed in Brazil? Life in a place he fell in love with at first sight. He would develop professionally, learn a new language, meet many interesting people from all over the world. But it wasn't enough. "I was afraid I would miss you too much," he says. - I see myself in Brazil for a few years, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have survived without my family and friends.

Magda was also afraid of leaving. She was born in Warsaw, her whole life revolved around this city, here she has family and friends, a good job in a large company. One day she decided to go to England. "I've always wanted to go away for a year," she says. - Try what it is like: away from loved ones, without realizing that you might come over to your mother or friend and cry on her shoulder. But I missed some stimulus.

She fell in love with a boy who convinced her to leave. - I would be lying if I said that I was not nervous. I was thinking about whether I would find a job or whether I would have enough money for an apartment up to my first salary. However, I made the decision that I was going straight away.

Why did Magda leave, even though she did not know what future awaited her in London, and why Michał decided to stay in Poland? Psychologist Arkadiusz Bilejczyk replies: - It often turns out that the potential profits are not high enough to cover the costs associated with the risk, e.g. separation from loved ones or the place to which we are attached. For Michał these costs were too high, for Magda not. Because if we do not have an innate tendency to dangerous, reckless behavior, we will always calculate the potential profits andlosses. And we will take a risk when the value of the prize is higher than the costs incurred

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Category:

Psychology