Estimation of perfomance and risk behavior in young age : Is there a correlation?

This paper is a study how students at a high school in Falun, Sweden, estimates their performance in an upcoming math test which is then compared with the actual grade the student performed. The students who participated also answered questions related to “risk situations” to examine whether there is a correlation between how students estimate their performance in the context and their risk behavior, and if the students act like economic models assume. In agreement with previous studies, the boys in the survey tended to be overconfident in their performance. The girls in the study were neither over- nor underconfident in her performance and no significant difference in the estimation of one's performance between the sexes could be proven. The proportion of boys who considered themselves to take greater risk than class average was greater than the proportion of girls in the question. No linear relationship between estimation of performance and risk behavior or differences in risk behavior could be found between the sexes