Mark,
I have always thought so. For all of us average players who think we know what better players who are concerned about score should do, the simple facts are that as in team sports, defense wins championships much more often than completing the long bomb.
If a challenge hazard was a full stroke penalty, like an unraked bunker ten feet deep, the chance of losing a stroke - or more - intuitively is about twice as great as picking one up. Who would take that chance? Make that a smooth, medium shallow bunker that might cause you troubles, but probably won't, and the risk taking goes way up as the risk goes down.
Naturally, we would want to avoid a hazard that is virtually no risk at all, although many golfers don't feel that way.