Quadrel M J, Fischhoff B, Davis W
Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
Am Psychol. 1993 Feb;48(2):102-16. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.48.2.102.
Three groups of subjects were asked to judge the probability that they and several target others (a friend, an acquaintance, a parent, a child) would experience various risks. Subjects were middle-class adults, their teenage children, and high-risk adolescents from treatment homes. All three groups saw themselves as facing somewhat less risk than the target others. However, this perception of relative invulnerability was no more pronounced for adolescents than for adults. Indeed, the parents were viewed as less vulnerable than their teenage children by both the adults and those teens. These results are consistent with others showing small differences in the cognitive decision-making processes of adolescents and adults. Underestimating teens' competence can mean misdiagnosing the sources of their risk behaviors, denying them deserved freedoms, and failing to provide needed assistance.
三组受试者被要求判断他们自己以及几个目标他人（朋友、熟人、父母、孩子）遭遇各种风险的概率。受试者包括中产阶级成年人、他们十几岁的孩子以及来自治疗机构的高危青少年。所有三组人都认为自己面临的风险比目标他人略低。然而，青少年对自身相对不易受伤害的这种认知并不比成年人更明显。事实上，成年人和青少年都认为父母比他们十几岁的孩子更不易受伤害。这些结果与其他研究结果一致，表明青少年和成年人在认知决策过程中存在细微差异。低估青少年的能力可能意味着误诊他们危险行为的根源、剥夺他们应得的自由以及未能提供所需的帮助。
