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General Risk Propensity Scale (GRiPS)

The General Risk Propensity Scale (GRiPS) is a validated instrument for measuring an individual's general tendency to take risks across various life domains. Developed by Dr. Don Zhang and colleagues, this concise 8-item scale provides researchers with a reliable tool for assessing risk propensity in research and applied settings.

Citation: Zhang, D. C., Highhouse, S., & Nye, C. D. (2019). Development and validation of the general risk propensity scale (GRiPS). Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 32(2), 152-167. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2102

Scale Administration

Instructions

Below are some general statements that may or may not describe you. Please indicate the degree to which you disagree or agree with each statement.

Response Anchors

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree

Items

  1. Taking risks makes life more fun
  2. My friends would say that I am a risk taker
  3. I enjoy taking risks in most aspects of my life
  4. I would take a risk even if it meant I might get hurt
  5. Taking risks is an important part of my life
  6. I commonly make risky decisions
  7. I am a believer of taking chances
  8. I am attracted, rather than scared, by risk

Scoring

The General Risk Propensity score can be calculated by taking the arithmetic mean (or sum) of the responses to all eight items.

Scoring Example:

If a participant responds with: 4, 3, 4, 2, 3, 3, 5, 4

Mean score calculation: (4 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 5 + 4) ÷ 8 = 3.5

Sum score calculation: 4 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 5 + 4 = 28

Psychometric Properties

This section is currently under construction. Please check back later for detailed information about the reliability, validity, and other psychometric properties of the GRiPS.

Terms of Usage

The GRiPS is free to use for all research and academic purposes (e.g., thesis, dissertation, class project). In exchange, we ask researchers to share any results and data gathered using the GRiPS with Dr. Don Zhang (dc.zhang1@gmail.com).

Sharing Results

  1. Sample characteristic (sample size, demographics of sample, country)
  2. Raw item scores for each participant. If raw data is unavailable for sharing, a correlation matrix of all the items is sufficient.
  3. Correlations with other variables in the dataset (optional)

Translation

You may translate the GRiPS to a different language for your research. In such cases, please send a copy of the translated version of the scale to Dr. Zhang. Please also include any pertinent info for the translation (e.g., name of the translator or translation team).

If you have any questions regarding the scale and its usage, please contact Dr. Don Zhang at dc.zhang1@gmail.com

Implementation Examples

Research Applications

The GRiPS has been successfully implemented in various research contexts:

  • Predicting financial decision-making in experimental settings
  • Understanding career choices and entrepreneurial intentions
  • Examining risk-taking behaviors across different cultures
  • Studying risk propensity in organizational settings

Online Implementation

The GRiPS can be easily implemented in various online survey platforms, including:

  • Qualtrics
  • SurveyMonkey
  • REDCap
  • Google Forms

For researchers interested in implementing the GRiPS in their online studies, sample configuration files or templates may be available upon request.

Scale Materials

You can download the GRiPS in PDF format for use in your research:

Download GRiPS (PDF) ↓

Note: By downloading this scale, you agree to the usage terms outlined above.

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