Life is full of choices. Some decisions are relatively easy to make: “What do I want for dinner?” They are considered low risk and relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things. But there are many other scenarios, a lot More difficult. Quitting a job, starting a family, and texting your problematic ex all have the potential to have major life repercussions. But what choices do people face most?
To get a better understanding of our everyday dilemmas, psychologists at the University of Zurich in Switzerland created an open-ended survey to assess common stressors surrounding various situations of uncertainty. Instead of assigning more than 4,380 volunteers in Switzerland to choose from a closed set of risky scenarios, researchers led by Renato Frei left the answer field completely blank. Based on the findings detailed in their study published in the journal Psychological sciencesThere is some consistency in what worries us most in 2025.
“In a relatively straightforward way, we asked study participants to report one risky choice,” Fry said He said in a statement. “In general, the distribution of these risky choices over different life domains remains fairly constant.
Regardless of demographics, the majority of people most often associate risk with accepting a new job. This was immediately followed by quitting a job, as well as investing money, driving, becoming self-employed, and buying a house.
Surprisingly, the results were often contrary to what many of the study authors assumed before conducting the survey. While researchers assumed that healthy or everyday activities like traveling alone would top the list, the opposite turned out to be true.
“This was an interesting finding, but according to our data, it seems to be a bit like the opposite,” Fry said. “First and foremost, people are considering risky career options.”
Fry’s team eventually compiled a shortlist of 100 of the most common risky decisions that ordinary people face. They’re also segmented based on a topic like “Career,” “Finance,” or “Relationships,” as well as demographics like age and gender identification. This allows reviewers to focus on different aspects and draw overarching themes. One possible example given by the study authors concerns the timing of their survey. The researchers examined whether risky choices changed before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather than any noticeable changes, Fry noted that the answers remained “surprisingly stable.”
The only thing that differed among some participants was the way the question was asked. The word “risky” has been intentionally left ambiguous to elicit the broadest possible types of answers. For some people, risks are mostly associated with randomness such as gambling, but others may consider situations of great importance. Volunteers were also asked to explain a risky choice they had made themselves, while others told a story from someone in their social circle. They were then asked to describe the outcomes of these riskier and safer decisions.
However, demographics influenced some responses. Younger adults typically reported that leaving a job was a high risk, while older participants emphasized accepting a new job.
“These more subtle patterns help us understand which subgroups of the population are exposed to risky choices,” Fry explained.
The study authors believe the new database could soon help policymakers identify populations that need additional decision-making aid or support, while other psychologists could use the information to understand larger themes among patients.
“I think so [study] “It can serve as a kind of blueprint for how we, at least occasionally, go about communicating and doing this discovery-oriented, data-driven, bottom-up research,” Fry said.
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