In his study, the relation between scientific attitudes and intellectual risk taking behaviors of elementary school 4th-grade students in Turkey were examined. 184 students participated in the study which was conducted through a survey model. For data collection, “The Scientific Attitude Inventory” and “Intellectual Risk Taking and Perceptions About its Predictors Scale in Science Education” were utilized. Descriptive statistical analyses and t-test, ANOVA, simple linear regression, and multiple regression analyses were utilized for the analysis of the data. As a result of data analysis, it was observed that elementary school students have scientific attitude at the “not sure” level and have intellectual risk taking behavior at the “mostly correct” level. It was observed that gender does not have an effect on scientific attitude, however, it is effective on intellectual risk taking behavior. Additionally, analysis results demonstrated that there is a meaningful difference between the intellectual risk taking behaviors of students and the educational status of their fathers. Moreover, when the relations between the other two-paired variables were examined, it was observed that variables of intellectual risk taking, gender, educational level of mother, and educational level of father all have a low level but, meaningful relation with scientific attitudes of elementary school students. In the study, it was indicated that teachers will contribute to students’ adoption of positive scientific attitude by introducing lives and studies of scientists, and the effect of educational patterns’ change in classroom environments via experimental studies on intellectual risk taking behaviors of students was suggested to be examined.
