Blinn College Psychology Instructor Shaan Shahabuddin has been selected to present his research on the science of risk-taking at an upcoming regional psychology conference.

Shahabuddin will join hundreds of his fellow psychologists in Wichita, Kan. for the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA) annual conference in April, where he will describe his study, “Leadership and Framing Effects: Student Leaders’ Engagement Towards Risk,” to a number of colleagues.

Shahabuddin’s research comes from a Spring 2014 study he conducted as a doctoral candidate at Texas A&M University alongside colleagues Steven Estrada, Chanda Elbert and Justin Varghese.

Using framing effects—which have shown that individuals tend to avoid risk when a choice is presented as a “gain frame” and to engage in risk when a choice is presented as a “loss frame”—they postulated that differently-framed scenarios would lead to discrepancies in risk taking between student leaders and non-leaders.

The study’s results indicated that student leaders take greater risk than non-leaders when scenarios are framed as a loss, leading Shahabuddin and his team to conclude that advanced decision makers rely more on intuition than non-leaders when making decisions concerning risk.

Shahabuddin said he is thrilled to present the study and represent Blinn College on a national stage.

ACBS animated gif“Being a part of a conference like this is such a good feeling,” Shahabuddin said. “It’s an entirely different world comprised of hundreds of people who have the same passion as you. You get to share your research and learn new things and meet people who are well-known from all branches of psychology. I’m excited to see what new information I can bring back for my students.”

Registration for Blinn’s 12-week Spring courses is open through Feb. 15, while registration for 8-week courses is available through March 22. For enrollment information and to learn about financial aid opportunities, visit: www.blinn.edu.