The moderating role of legal emotions in the relationship between sensation seeking and risk-taking behaviors among college students

The dual-system model proposes that asynchronous maturation of the socioemotional and cognitive control systems underlies the high incidence of adolescent risk-taking. Although sensation seeking is strongly linked to such behaviors, the role of social emotions-particularly legal emotion-remains underexplored. In this study, 127 university students completed a sensation-seeking scale and the College Students' Legal Emotions Questionnaire. A subset of 110 participants with valid survey data then undertook an objective behavioral assessment of risk-taking (Balloon Analogue Risk Task). Results indicated that sensation seeking significantly and positively predicted risk-taking propensity, and that positive legal emotions attenuated this effect, whereas negative legal emotions showed no moderating impact. These findings highlight a novel intervention target: fostering positive legal emotions via school-based legal education may effectively reduce adolescent risk-taking behaviors.