The importance of addressing this issue stems from the need to understand the psychological factors that shape individuals' varying responses to potential risks. This research aimed to investigate how neuropsychological systems regulating behavior—specifically activation and inhibition—relate to personal traits and individuals' attitudes toward danger, focusing on a student population. The study included 327 students from four universities across Russia (Moscow, Cherepovets, and Ivanovo), with 60 men and 267 women, with a mean age of 20 years (SD = 2.17). The study employed several diagnostic instruments to assess these factors including questionnaires designed by the authors to evaluate sensitivity to threats and response strategies in dangerous situations, the Carver-White questionnaire to measure BAS/BIS sensitivity, the Big Five personality assessment adapted by L. F. Burlachuk and D. K. Korolev, and the “Adaptability” scale by Maklakov-Chermyanin (Moral Normativity). The results showed that an appropriate response to risk is closely related to personal characteristics such as openness to experience, benevolence, and moral normativity, while over- or underestimation of threats is associated with neuropsychological factors tied to BAS and BIS. These findings have practical applications for improving safety measures in various fields and can contribute to educational initiatives aimed at teaching young people and adults how to effectively respond to dangerous situations.
