Adolescent risk-taking and social meaning: A commentary

Adolescent risk-taking can be illuminated through an understanding of the development of the brain, of dual-processing theories, and of social norms and meanings. When adolescents take unjustified risks, it is often because of the weakness of their analytic systems, which provide an inadequate check on impulsive or ill-considered decisions. Social meaning plays a large role in increasing or decreasing adolescent risk-taking. For purposes of policy, one implication is that “meaning entrepreneurs,” in the private and public sectors, should be able to move behavior in better directions.