The Confucian Familism, as a social and cultural value system rooted in Chinese society, profoundly influences the decision-making behavior of family firms. As an important part of China’s private economy, the risk-taking level of family firms is of great significance to the risk management practices of family firms as well as to the stable development of the macroeconomy. Based on the data of A-share listed family firms from 2012 to 2023, this research conducts an empirical study to explore the impact of familism on the family firms’ risk-taking level. The results show that: (1) Familism has a significantly positive impact on family firms’ risk-taking level; (2) The degree of family management involvement can strengthen the promoting effect of familism on the risk-taking level of family firms; (3) The market competition intensity weakens the promoting effect of familism on the risk-taking level of family firms. (4) The heterogeneity analysis reveals that familism has a more significant impact on the risk-taking levels of firms in the eastern region, non-high-tech firms, and large-scale firms. This study enriches the research on the economic consequences of familism from the perspective of familism culture and contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between informal institutions and family business risk preferences, which informs the risk management practices of family firms.