ИСТИНА

An individual's capabilities to adapt to the modern ever changing and uncertain environment are largely contingent on the ability to make prognostic choices. Objectives of the study were to establish: 1) the framing of decisions in probabilistic and deterministic choices among medical and psychology students; 2) the relation of choices and personality characteristics. In accordance with the prospect theory (Kahneman, Tversky, 1981), people tend to be risk averse in choices involving gains and risk seeking in choices that involve losses. Method . Samples of medical (n = 64) and psychology (n = 73) students were asked to self-assess their readiness to risk, given questionnaires to measure implicit risk theories, the Big Five personality traits and tolerance of uncertainty, and offered to solve a verbal task involving a human life risk dilemma. Results . The comparison of samples of those studying at a medical university and at the faculty of psychology, demonstrated no difference in the framing effect between samples. We established correlations between preference of probabilistic choices and personality traits, decision-making styles, self-evaluated risk readiness and implicit risk theories. Those medical students, who made deterministic choices, were significantly more intolerant of uncertainty, less conscientious and open to experience, and rated themselves as less ready to risk. Conscientiousness was linked with lower hedonistic risk-taking among medical students. Psychology students with a preference of deterministic choices are less agreeable and tolerant of uncertainty. Conclusion . The results of this study suggest that the attitudes to risk and uncertainty, self-evaluated readiness to risk, as well as the Big Five personality traits regulate the ability to make probabilistic decisions. The higher an individual's self-assessment of readiness to risk and the higher one's tolerance of uncertainty, the more likely one is to make a choice with a probabilistic outcome. 17-06-00130 from the Russian Foundation for Humanities. Author contact e-mail address: julia.k7@gmail.com