Inspired by something I was reading on the weight loss forums, I was wondering what you think makes some people rule followers and risk averse, and others rule breakers and risk takers?
I'm inclined to see rules as guidelines. I always obey the law, but in terms of other rules, I don't always follow them and tend to use my discretion where I feel it makes sense too, or to view rules as advice which I can choose whether to follow or not. Some people are like me but others will always seem to follow the rules even if it feels counter intuitive to them, and they place importance on always following the rules.
As an example, at work we can give 3 days leave for the death of a close family member. Personally, I've allowed a staff member to take a week and then advised her to go sick if she still wasn't ready to return to work. She lost her mum and was only young at the time and would have massively struggled to return to work after just 3 days off to grieve and make sense of things. When my own mum died my manager was super strict and I had to go back to work after 3 days when I was absolutely not ready or able to do so. She was a very 'by the book' and rule following manager.
Another example - if I'm crossing the road I will often cross when the man is red, but some people I know will only cross when he goes green even if no-one is around and no cars are on the road!!
I have also been known to have one extra paracetamol than recommended in 24 hours, that kind of thing! Things which to me seem so minor but would really worry others!
I can think of loads of instances where I'm very happy to break the 'rule' but others obey.
I'd only break rules that wouldn't negatively impact anyone else.
So my question is why are some people rule breakers and happy to break rules and others will never break them?
(I'm not talking about the law as breaking laws I think is a v different thing. I'm talking about rules and guidelines)