Perceived social support, attachment representations, and academic risk-taking in higher education

Abstract Academic risk-taking (ART) refers to the students’ tendency to engage in challenging learning tasks for which there is uncertainty about the correctness of the outcome, and which carry the risk of making an error visible. Since coping with such an outcome can be considered a stressful event, we ask whether students’ perception of the availability of social support is related to their ART. The analyses are based on a sample of 341 German university students. Structural equation models revealed positive associations between perceived social support from fellow students and ART in peer situations, as well as between perceived social support from university teachers and ART in seminar courses. Furthermore, positive associations between ART and secure attachment representations were observed. The findings are discussed with respect to the role of the perception of social support in learning in higher education settings.