Risk preference shares the psychometric structure of major psychological traits

Convergence of Age Differences in Risk Preference, Impulsivity, and Self-Control: A Multiverse Analysis

OBJECTIVES

Numerous theories exist regarding age differences in risk preference and related constructs, yet many of them offer conflicting predictions and fail to consider convergence between measurement modalities or constructs. To pave the way for conceptual clarification and theoretical refinement, in this preregistered study we aimed to comprehensively examine age effects on risk preference, impulsivity, and self-control using different measurement modalities, and to assess their convergence.

METHODS

We collected a large battery of self-report, informant report, behavioral, hormone, and neuroimaging measures from a cross-sectional sample of 148 (55% female) healthy human participants between 16 and 81 years (mean age = 46 years, standard deviation [SD] = 19). We used an extended sample of 182 participants (54% female, mean age = 46 years, SD = 19) for robustness checks concerning the results from self-reports, informant reports, and behavioral measures. For our main analysis, we performed specification curve analyses to visualize and estimate the convergence between the different modalities and constructs.

RESULTS

Our multiverse analysis approach revealed convergent results for risk preference, impulsivity, and self-control from self- and informant reports, suggesting a negative effect of age. For behavioral, hormonal, and neuroimaging outcomes, age effects were mostly absent.

DISCUSSION

Our findings call for conceptual clarification and improved operationalization to capture the putative mechanisms underlying age-related differences in risk preference and related constructs.

Risk preference as an outcome of evolutionarily adaptive learning mechanisms: An evolutionary simulation under diverse risky environments

The optimization of cognitive and learning mechanisms can reveal complicated behavioral phenomena. In this study, we focused on reinforcement learning, which uses different learning rules for positive and negative reward prediction errors. We attempted to relate the evolved learning bias to the complex features of risk preference such as domain-specific behavior manifests and the relatively stable domain-general factor underlying behaviors. The simulations of the evolution of the two learning rates under diverse risky environments showed that the positive learning rate evolved on average to be higher than the negative one, when agents experienced both tasks where risk aversion was more rewarding and risk seeking was more rewarding. This evolution enabled agents to flexibly choose more reward behaviors depending on the task type. The evolved agents also demonstrated behavioral patterns described by the prospect theory. Our simulations captured two aspects of the evolution of risk preference: the domain-specific aspect, behavior acquired through learning in a specific context; and the implicit domain-general aspect, corresponding to the learning rates shaped through evolution to adaptively behave in a wide range of environments. These results imply that our framework of learning under the innate constraint may be useful in understanding the complicated behavioral phenomena.

Comparing experience- and description-based economic preferences across 11 countries

Recent evidence indicates that reward value encoding in humans is highly context dependent, leading to suboptimal decisions in some cases, but whether this computational constraint on valuation is a shared feature of human cognition remains unknown. Here we studied the behaviour of n = 561 individuals from 11 countries of markedly different socioeconomic and cultural makeup. Our findings show that context sensitivity was present in all 11 countries. Suboptimal decisions generated by context manipulation were not explained by risk aversion, as estimated through a separate description-based choice task (that is, lotteries) consisting of matched decision offers. Conversely, risk aversion significantly differed across countries. Overall, our findings suggest that context-dependent reward value encoding is a feature of human cognition that remains consistently present across different countries, as opposed to description-based decision-making, which is more permeable to cultural factors.

Impulsivity is a stable, measurable, and predictive psychological trait

Impulsivity is a personality construct frequently employed to explain and predict important human behaviors. Major inconsistencies in its definition and measurement, however, have led some researchers to call for an outright rejection of impulsivity as a psychological construct. We address this highly unsatisfactory state with a large-scale, preregistered study (N = 1,676) in which each participant completed 48 measures of impulsivity derived from 10 self-report scales and 10 behavioral tasks and reported frequencies of seven impulsivity-related behaviors (e.g., impulsive buying and social media usage); a subsample (N = 196) then completed a retest session 3 mo later. We found that correlations between self-report measures were substantially higher than those between behavioral tasks and between self-report measures and behavioral tasks. Bifactor analysis of these measures exacted one general factor of impulsivity I, akin to the general intelligence factor g, and six specific factors. Factor I was related mainly to self-report measures, had high test-retest reliability, and could predict impulsivity-related behaviors better than existing measures. We further developed a scale named the adjustable impulsivity scale (AIMS) to measure I. AIMS possesses excellent psychometric properties that are largely retained in shorter versions and could predict impulsivity-related behaviors equally well as I. These findings collectively support impulsivity as a stable, measurable, and predictive trait, indicating that it may be too early to reject it as a valid and useful psychological construct. The bifactorial structure of impulsivity and AIMS, meanwhile, significantly advance the conceptualization and measurement of construct impulsivity.

Psychological mechanisms of the development of suicidal ideation: Longitudinal cohort study

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of the development of suicidal ideation and its moderating and protective factors. Drawing on the Interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide, we proposed that disruptions to belongingness, in conjunction with tolerance of health risk, may influence the development of suicidal ideation above and beyond psychosocial changes such as disruptions to finances and work.

METHODS

The study involved a longitudinal investigation of an Australian representative sample reporting suicidal ideation fortnightly for 12 weeks between March and June 2020.

RESULTS

The results indicated that participants who reported higher levels of belongingness, mastery, and intolerance of health risk were less likely to experience suicidal ideation and had lower severity of suicidal ideation. Mastery significantly strengthened the negative link between belongingness and the incidence of suicidal ideation, while agreeableness significantly strengthened the negative link between belongingness and the severity of suicidal ideation over time.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that supporting effective social connectedness during times of isolation and promoting self-efficacy, mastery, and regulation of risk tolerance, may be crucial for suicide prevention and therapeutic intervention.

An integrative framework for mapping the psychological landscape of risk perception

We vary greatly in our perception of risk, not just because of differences between risks themselves, but also because of individual, contextual and cultural differences too. To better understand and predict responses to risk, we need to (a) integrate these components, combining approaches from different psychological disciplines and (b) also consider risk tolerance - how individuals trade-off between risks and benefits. We therefore developed an ICONS (individual, contextual, cognitive, social) framework; using it across two empirical studies (n = 4228) to examine how individuals perceive and respond to the quotidian risks associated with consumer products. Three dimensions underlined risk perceptions: benefits, dread and individual responsibility. Risk tolerance was typically predicted by interactions between individual (demographic, cultural worldview, personality) and contextual (product type/category, harm information) factors. In turn, perceived dread, benefits and individual differences shaped how likely participants were to communicate risk information. Our results demonstrate for the first time how the interaction between individual, cognitive (risk tolerance, intensity), contextual, and social (risk communication) factors is key to understanding and predicting risk perceptions. Together, our findings help explain why societal responses to risks are often difficult to predict and have implications for the spread, and amplification, of risk information.

Biases in Improvement Decisions: People Focus on the Relative Reduction in Bad Outcomes

People often decide whether to invest scarce resources-such as time, money, or energy-to improve their chances of a positive outcome. For example, a doctor might decide whether to utilize scarce medicine to improve a patient's chances of recovery, or a student might decide whether to study a few additional hours to increase their chances of passing an exam. We conducted 11 studies (N = 5,342 adults) and found evidence that people behave as if they focus on the relative reduction in bad outcomes caused by such improvements. As a consequence, the same improvements (e.g., 10-percentage-point improvements) are valued very differently depending on whether one's initial chances of success are high or low. This focus on the relative reduction of bad outcomes drives risk preferences that violate normative standards (Studies 1a-1g and 2a), is amplified when decisions become more consequential (Study 2b), and leads even experienced professionals to make suboptimal decisions (Study 3).

Identification of a Composite Latent Dimension of Reward and Impulsivity Across Clinical, Behavioral, and Neurobiological Domains Among Youth

BACKGROUND

Individual differences in reward processing are central to heightened risk-taking behaviors during adolescence, but there is inconsistent evidence for the relationship between risk-taking phenotypes and the neural substrates of these behaviors.

METHODS

Here, we identify latent features of reward in an attempt to provide a unifying framework linking together aspects of the brain and behavior during early adolescence using a multivariate pattern learning approach. Data (N = 8295; n male = 4190; n female = 4105) were acquired as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and included neuroimaging (regional neural activity responses during reward anticipation) and behavioral (e.g., impulsivity measures, delay discounting) variables.

RESULTS

We revealed a single latent dimension of reward driven by shared covariation between striatal, thalamic, and anterior cingulate responses during reward anticipation, negative urgency, and delay discounting behaviors. Expression of these latent features differed among adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior disorder, compared with those without, and higher expression of these latent features was negatively associated with multiple dimensions of executive function and cognition.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that cross-domain patterns of anticipatory reward processing linked to negative features of impulsivity exist in both the brain and in behavior during early adolescence and that these are representative of 2 commonly diagnosed reward-related psychiatric disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior disorder. Furthermore, they provide an explicit baseline from which multivariate developmental trajectories of reward processes may be tracked in later waves of the ABCD Study and other developmental cohorts.

Bridging the Gap Between Self-Report and Behavioral Laboratory Measures: A Real-Time Driving Task With Inverse Reinforcement Learning

A major challenge in assessing psychological constructs such as impulsivity is the weak correlation between self-report and behavioral task measures that are supposed to assess the same construct. To address this issue, we developed a real-time driving task called the "highway task," in which participants often exhibit impulsive behaviors mirroring real-life impulsive traits captured by self-report questionnaires. Here, we show that a self-report measure of impulsivity is highly correlated with performance in the highway task but not with traditional behavioral task measures of impulsivity (47 adults aged 18-33 years). By integrating deep neural networks with an inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) algorithm, we inferred dynamic changes of subjective rewards during the highway task. The results indicated that impulsive participants attribute high subjective rewards to irrational or risky situations. Overall, our results suggest that using real-time tasks combined with IRL can help reconcile the discrepancy between self-report and behavioral task measures of psychological constructs.

Sleep deprivation attenuates neural responses to outcomes from risky decision-making

Sleep loss impacts a broad range of brain and cognitive functions. However, how sleep deprivation affects risky decision-making remains inconclusive. This study used functional MRI to examine the impact of one night of total sleep deprivation (TSD) on risky decision-making behavior and the underlying brain responses in healthy adults. In this study, we analyzed data from N = 56 participants in a strictly controlled 5-day and 4-night in-laboratory study using a modified Balloon Analogue Risk Task. Participants completed two scan sessions in counter-balanced order, including one scan during rested wakefulness (RW) and another scan after one night of TSD. Results showed no differences in participants' risk-taking propensity and risk-induced activation between RW and TSD. However, participants showed significantly reduced neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and bilateral insula for loss outcomes, and in bilateral putamen for win outcomes during TSD compared with RW. Moreover, risk-induced activation in the insula negatively correlated with participants' risk-taking propensity during RW, while no such correlations were observed after TSD. These findings suggest that sleep loss may impact risky decision-making by attenuating neural responses to decision outcomes and impairing brain-behavior associations.

What's in a sample? Epistemic uncertainty and metacognitive awareness in risk taking

In a fundamentally uncertain world, sound information processing is a prerequisite for effective behavior. Given that information processing is subject to inevitable cognitive imprecision, decision makers should adapt to this imprecision and to the resulting epistemic uncertainty when taking risks. We tested this metacognitive ability in two experiments in which participants estimated the expected value of different number distributions from sequential samples and then bet on their own estimation accuracy. Results show that estimates were imprecise, and this imprecision increased with higher distributional standard deviations. Importantly, participants adapted their risk-taking behavior to this imprecision and hence deviated from the predictions of Bayesian models of uncertainty that assume perfect integration of information. To explain these results, we developed a computational model that combines Bayesian updating with a metacognitive awareness of cognitive imprecision in the integration of information. Modeling results were robust to the inclusion of an empirical measure of participants' perceived variability. In sum, we show that cognitive imprecision is crucial to understanding risk taking in decisions from experience. The results further demonstrate the importance of metacognitive awareness as a cognitive building block for adaptive behavior under (partial) uncertainty.

Lifespan trajectories of risk preference, impulsivity, and self-control: A dataset containing self-report, informant-report, behavioral, hormone and functional neuroimaging measures from a cross-sectional human sample

This paper describes data collected from a cross-sectional convenience sample of 200 healthy human volunteers between 16 and 81 years of age. We assembled an extensive battery of measures of risk preference, impulsivity, and self-control, as well as a range of demographic and cognitive measures, Crucially, we adopted different measure categories, including self-reports, informant reports, behavioral measures, and biological measures (hormones, brain function) to capture individual differences, and adopted a within-participant design. Data collection took place over multiple sessions. First, participants completed a laboratory session at the university during which we collected computer-assisted self-report measures (i.e., standardized questionnaires) as well as behavioral measures using computerized tasks. Second, participants independently completed a home session that included the completion of self-report measures, and the collection of saliva samples. In parallel, we acquired informant reports from up to three individuals nominated by the study participants. Third, participants completed a final session at the local hospital during which we collected structural and functional neuroimaging data, as well as further self-report measures. The data was collected to address questions concerning the developmental trajectories of risk preference and related constructs while assessing the impact of the assessment method; however, we invite fellow researchers to benefit from and further explore the data for research on decision-making under risk and uncertainty in general, and to apply novel analytical approaches (e.g., machine-learning applications to the neuroimaging data). Combining a large set of measures with a within-participant design affords a wealth of opportunities for further insights and a more robust evidence base supporting current theorizing on (age-related) differences in risk preference, impulsivity, and self-control.

Illustrating psychometric tests, scales, and constructs: An R package for Item Pool Visualization

Researchers assessing psychological constructs have to understand and choose between several competing measures. Item Pool Visualization (IPV, Dantlgraber et al., 2019) was developed to offer a systematic and detailed portrayal of the actual content and internal balance of competing measures. To enable the use of IPV, we developed and present here the IPV R package. Its aim is to allow researchers to add IPV to their repertoire with minimal effort. Creating IPV charts from raw data requires two simple function calls, because the package streamlines model specification, model estimation, and chart creation. It improves IPV conceptually by introducing the aggregate center distance and the item overview chart. It provides many customization options and generates high-quality, vector-based PDF output. The workflow of the package is explained using a reproducible open data example from a personality assessment.

Investigating the relationship between self-reported interoceptive experience and risk propensity

Risky behaviour may be associated with visceral experiences, such as increased heart rate. Previous studies examining the relationship between perception of such signals (interoception) and risk-taking typically used behavioural tasks with potential for monetary reward. This approach may be less informative for understanding general risk propensity. In addition, such research does not usually consider the varied ways individuals engage with interoceptive signals. However, examining these different forms of engagement may help us understand how subjective experience of interoception influences risk-taking. As such, we performed two surveys (n = 471, primarily young adults) to examine the relationship between self-reported engagement with interoceptive signals (measured using the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness) and a generalised measure of risk propensity (the General Risk Propensity Scale). Results indicated that different ways of interpreting or engaging with interoceptive signals were differentially associated with risk propensity. In particular, they provide preliminary evidence that those with the ability to ignore or not worry about visceral signals when they are uncomfortable display greater risk propensity (and these effects may possibly be gender-specific).

Risky decision-making in major depressive disorder: A three-level meta-analysis

Background

Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) are usually observed making inappropriate risky decisions. However, whether and to what extent MDD is associated with impairments in risky decision-making remains unclear. We performed a three-level meta-analysis to explore the relationship between risky decision-making and MDD.

Method

We searched the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases up to February 7, 2023, and calculated Hedges' g to demonstrate the difference in risky decision-making between MDD patients and healthy controls (HCs). The moderating effect of sample and task characteristics were also revealed.

Results

Across 73 effect sizes in 39 cross-sectional studies, MDD patients exhibited greater risk-seeking than HCs (Hedges' g = 0.187, p = .030). Furthermore, age (p = .068), region (p = .005), and task type (p < .001) were found to have moderating effects. Specifically, patients preferred risk-seeking over HCs as age increased. European patients showed significantly increased risk-seeking compared to American and Asian patients. Patients in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) exhibited a notable rise in risk-seeking compared to other tasks, along with an increased risk aversion in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). The multiple-moderator analysis showed that only task type had significant effects, which may be explained by a tentative framework of "operationalization-mechanism-measure" specificity.

Conclusions

MDD patients generally exhibit higher risk-seeking than HCs. It implies that impaired risky decision-making might be a noteworthy symptom of depression, which should be placed more emphasis for clinical management and psycho-education.

Problems of Domain Factors with Small Factor Loadings in Bi-Factor Models

Many measurement designs produce domain factors with small variances and factor loadings. The current study investigates the cause, prevalence, and problematic consequences of such domain factors. We collected a meta-analytic sample of empirical applications, conducted a simulation study on statistical power and estimation precision, and provide a reanalysis of an empirical example. The meta-analysis shows that about a quarter of all standardized domain factor loadings is in the range of - .2 < λ < .2 and about a third of all domains is measured by five or fewer indicators, resulting in small factor variances. The simulation study examines the associated difficulties concerning statistical power, trait recovery, irregular estimates, and estimation precision for a range of such realistic cases. The empirical example illustrates the challenge to develop measures that produce clearly interpretable domain factors. Study planning and interpretation need to take the (expected) sum of squared factor loadings per domain factor into account. This is relevant even if influences of domain factors are desired to be small, and equally applies to different model variants. We propose several strategies for how researchers may better unlock the bifactor model's full potential and clarify its interpretation.

Reduced neural encoding of utility prediction errors in cocaine addiction

Influential accounts of addiction posit alterations in adaptive behavior driven by deficient dopaminergic prediction errors (PEs), signaling the discrepancy between actual and expected reward. Dopamine neurons encode these error signals in subjective terms, calibrated by individual risk preferences, as "utility" PEs. It remains unclear, however, whether people with drug addiction have PE deficits or their computational source. Here, using an analogous task to prior single-unit studies with known expectancies, we show that fMRI-measured PEs similarly reflect utility PEs. Relative to control participants, people with chronic cocaine addiction demonstrate reduced utility PEs in the dopaminoceptive ventral striatum, with similar trends in orbitofrontal cortex. Dissecting this PE signal into its subcomponent terms attributed these reductions to weaker striatal responses to received reward/utility, whereas suppression of activity with reward expectation was unchanged. These findings support that addiction may fundamentally disrupt PE signaling and reveal an underappreciated role for perceived reward value in this mechanism.

The stability of physicians' risk attitudes across time and domains

Risk attitude is known to influence physicians' decision-making under uncertainty. Research on the risk attitudes of physicians is therefore important in facilitating a better understanding of physicians' decisions. However, little is known about the stability of physicians' risk attitudes across domains. Using five waves of data from a prospective panel study of Australian physicians from 2013 to 2017, we explored the stability of risk attitudes over a four-year period and examined the association between negative life events and risk attitudes among 4417 physicians. Further, we tested the stability of risk attitude across three domains most relevant to a physician's career and clinical decision-making (financial, career and clinical). The results showed that risk attitude was stable over time at both the mean and individual levels but the correlation between domains was modest. There were no significant associations between negative life events and risk attitude changes in all three domains. These findings suggest that risk attitude can be assumed to be constant but domain-specificity needs to be considered in analyses of physician decision-making.

Risk-taking propensity as a risk factor for noise-induced hearing loss in the general population

OBJECTIVES

To examine general risk propensity in relation to perceptions of noise, risk behaviour, and hearing loss in the general population.

DESIGN

Participants completed an online survey using the Amazon Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform.

STUDY SAMPLE

The sample comprised 1274 adults from the United States.

RESULTS

Higher general risk propensity was associated with an increased likelihood to engage in noise-risk behaviours. Lower general risk propensity was associated with increased knowledge of noise risks and an increased perception of noise as risky. The frequency of self-reported exposures to hazardous noise resulted in estimated annual noise doses exceeding standard hazard limits in 40% of the surveyed population.

CONCLUSIONS

Results revealed limited knowledge of the risks and associated health consequences of noise exposure in the general population Results of this study suggest a high rate of self-exposure to hazardous noise by the general population. Those with higher general risk propensity are more likely to engage in risky noise behaviour. Risky noise behaviour is associated with age, gender, race, ethnicity, and general risk propensity. Intervention programs to modify risky noise behaviour in the general population should focus on both increasing knowledge and establishing accurate perceptions of risk.

Environmental statistics and experience shape risk-taking across adolescence

Adolescents are often portrayed as reckless risk-takers because of their immature brains. Recent research has cast doubt on this portrayal, identifying the environment as a moderator of risk-taking. However, the key features of environments that drive risk-taking behaviors are often underspecified. We call for greater attention to the environment by drawing on research showing that its statistical structure impacts future risk-taking as people learn from outcomes they experience after taking a risk. This opinion shows that adolescents are unlikely to experience harm from many risks because environmental statistics are skewed and favor safe experiences. Environmental statistics and experience suggest entry points for policy interventions by carefully timing risk warnings and leveraging peers' potential to shape the statistics of rewarding experiences.

The link between cognitive abilities and risk preference depends on measurement

Risk preference is an important construct for understanding individual differences in risk taking throughout the behavioral sciences. An active stream of research has focused on better understanding risk preference through its connection to other psychological constructs, in particular, cognitive abilities. Here, we examine two large-scale multimethod data sets and demonstrate that the method used to measure risk preference is an important moderator. In self-report measures, we found small but consistent positive correlations between working memory capacity/numeracy, facets of cognitive abilities, and risk tolerance. In behavioral measures, we found, on average, no correlation and large intermethod heterogeneity. This heterogeneity can be explained by the choice architecture that is created in behavioral methods-in particular, the relation between risk and reward and the impact of decision error in a task. Consequently, investigating how risk preference relates to psychological constructs such as cognitive abilities require a profound understanding of the choice architecture in measurements of risk preference and in the real world.

Weakened weekdays: lockdown disrupts the weekly cycle of risk tolerance

Risk tolerance decreases from Monday to Thursday and increases on Friday. Antecedents of this weekly risk cycle are difficult to investigate experimentally as manipulating the seven-day cycle is impractical. Here we used temporal disorientation during the UK COVID-19 lockdown to conduct a natural experiment. In two studies, we measured responses to risk in participants with either a strong or weak sense of weekday, after either a short or long period of disruption to their weekly routine by lockdown. In Study 1 (N = 864), the weekly risk cycle was consistent in risk attitude measures specifically to participants who reported a strong sense of weekday. In Study 2 (N = 829), the weekly risk cycle was abolished, even for participants who retained a strong sense of weekday. We propose that two factors sustain the weekly risk cycle. If the sense of weekday is lacking, then weekday will have little effect because the current day is not salient. If weekday associations decay, then weekday will have little effect because the current day is not meaningful. The weekly risk cycle is strong and consistent when (i) sense of weekday is robust and (ii) weekday associations are maintained.

Functional sophistication in human escape

Animals including humans must cope with immediate threat and make rapid decisions to survive. Without much leeway for cognitive or motor errors, this poses a formidable computational problem. Utilizing fully immersive virtual reality with 13 natural threats, we examined escape decisions in N = 59 humans. We show that escape goals are dynamically updated according to environmental changes. The decision whether and when to escape depends on time-to-impact, threat identity and predicted trajectory, and stable personal characteristics. Its implementation appears to integrate secondary goals such as behavioral affordances. Perturbance experiments show that the underlying decision algorithm exhibits planning properties and can integrate novel actions. In contrast, rapid information-seeking and foraging-suppression are only partly devaluation-sensitive. Instead of being instinctive or hardwired stimulus-response patterns, human escape decisions integrate multiple variables in a flexible computational architecture. Taken together, we provide steps toward a computational model of how the human brain rapidly solves survival challenges.

The influence of insight on risky decision making and nucleus accumbens activation

During insightful problem solving, the solution appears unexpectedly and is accompanied by the feeling of an AHA!. Research suggests that this affective component of insight can have consequences beyond the solution itself by motivating future behavior, such as risky (high reward and high uncertainty) decision making. Here, we investigate the behavioral and neural support for the motivational role of AHA in decision making involving monetary choices. The positive affect of the AHA! experience has been linked to internal reward. Reward in turn has been linked to dopaminergic signal transmission in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) and risky decision making. Therefore, we hypothesized that insight activates reward-related brain areas, modulating risky decision making. We tested this hypothesis in two studies. First, in a pre-registered online study (Study 1), we demonstrated the behavioral effect of insight-related increase in risky decision making using a visual Mooney identification paradigm. Participants were more likely to choose the riskier monetary payout when they had previously solved the Mooney image with high compared to low accompanied AHA!. Second, in an fMRI study (Study 2), we measured the effects of insight on NAcc activity using a similar Mooney identification paradigm to the one of Study 1. Greater NAcc activity was found when participants solved the Mooney image with high vs low AHA!. Taken together, our results link insight to enhanced NAcc activity and a preference for high but uncertain rewards, suggesting that insight enhances reward-related brain areas possibly via dopaminergic signal transmission, promoting risky decision making.

The non-unitary nature of information preference

Factors affecting information-seeking behaviour can be task-endogenous (e.g., probability of winning a gamble), or task-exogenous (e.g., personality trait measures). Various task-endogenous factors affecting non-instrumental information-seeking behaviour have been identified, but it is unclear how task-exogenous factors affect such behaviour, and if they interact with task-endogenous factors. In an online information seeking experiment (N = 279), we focus on the role that outcome probability, as a task-endogenous factor, has on information preferences. We find reliable preference for advance information on highly probable gains and low preference for highly probable losses. Comparisons with individual trait measures of information preference (e.g., intolerance of uncertainty scale, obsessive-compulsive inventory, information preferences scale) reveal minimal association between these task-exogenous factors with choice task performance. We also find minimal interaction between outcome probability and individual trait measures. Despite the choice task and trait measures purportedly tapping the same (or similar) construct, the absence of clear relationships ultimately suggests a multi-dimensional nature of information preference.

In search of the functional base of risk-taking: inexperience and safety

This study is aimed at challenging the notion that risk-taking is based merely on some mechanistic foundation like control deficiencies or process imbalances. We hypothesize that risk-taking has an adaptive function and is an optimal strategy for an agent who (1) has scarce knowledge about the current environment or (2) is in a position in which a potential loss is not threatening. We argue that the two above are related to age which, in turn, may explain association between age and risk-taking commonly reported in the developmental literature. We investigate the possible influence of the age-related variables on the risk propensity in two ways: by inducing rich or scarce knowledge and safe or unsafe position in the experimental environment with task parameters and, simultaneously by examining actual differences between adolescents and adults. The results of two experiments that used a novel compound risk task provide support for the first hypothesis concerning knowledge about the environment. On the other hand, the results falsify the second "safe position" hypothesis. Also, the second experiment reveals that one's status relative to resources can influence risk-taking, but it does so in a way that is different from our initial assumption.

Medical occupation preference under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of risk and altruistic preferences

We examine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical occupation preference, focusing on Wuhan, China. We conducted a survey of 5686 respondents in China regarding the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical occupation preference. We also conducted a complimentary survey in the UK with 1198 respondents, as well as a field experiment in Wuhan with 428 first and second-year medical students. We find a significant negative impact of the pandemic on the willingness to let a loved one choose a medical occupation. Individuals who were heavily influenced by the pandemic, that is, Wuhan residents, especially medical workers, express significantly lower medical occupation preference. Further analysis from Sobel-Goodman mediation tests reveals that around half of the total negative effect can be mediated by enhanced risk aversion and reduced altruism. The UK survey and the field experiment with medical students in Wuhan reinforce these findings. Our results suggest a shift in medical workers' risk- and altruistic-preferences has led to a reduced medical occupation preference. Non-medical workers and students who are more altruistic and risk-seeking are more likely to choose a medical occupation.

Neural Differences in Relation to Risk Preferences during Reward Processing: An Event-Related Potential Study

Inter-individual variability in risk preferences can be reflected in reward processing differences, making people risk-seekers or risk-averse. However, the neural correlates of reward processing in individuals with risk preferences remain unknown. Consequently, this event-related potential (ERP) study examined and compared electrophysiological correlates associated with different stages of reward processing in risk-seeking and risk-averse groups. Individuals scoring in the bottom and top 20% on the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) were deemed risk-averse and risk-seeking, respectively. Participants engaged in a gambling task while their electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Risk-seekers tended to choose high-risk options significantly more frequently than low-risk options, whereas risk-averse individuals chose low-risk options significantly more frequently than high-risk ones. All participants selected the low-risk alternative more slowly than the high-risk option. During the anticipation stage, the low-risk option elicited a relatively attenuated stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) response from risk-seekers compared to risk-averse participants. During the outcome stage, feedback-related negativity (FRN) increased in risk-seekers responding to greater losses but not in risk-averse participants. These results indicate that ERP components can detect differences in reward processing during risky situations. In addition, these results suggest that motivation and cognitive control, along with their associated neural processes, may play a central role in differences in reward-based behavior between the two groups.

Challenges and Solutions to the Measurement of Neurocognitive Mechanisms in Developmental Settings

Identifying early neurocognitive mechanisms that confer risk for mental health problems is one important avenue as we seek to develop successful early interventions. Currently, however, we have limited understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms involved in shaping mental health trajectories from childhood through young adulthood, and this constrains our ability to develop effective clinical interventions. In particular, there is an urgent need to develop more sensitive, reliable, and scalable measures of individual differences for use in developmental settings. In this review, we outline methodological shortcomings that explain why widely used task-based measures of neurocognition currently tell us little about mental health risk. We discuss specific challenges that arise when studying neurocognitive mechanisms in developmental settings, and we share suggestions for overcoming them. We also propose a novel experimental approach-which we refer to as "cognitive microscopy"-that involves adaptive design optimization, temporally sensitive task administration, and multilevel modeling. This approach addresses some of the methodological shortcomings outlined above and provides measures of stability, variability, and developmental change in neurocognitive mechanisms within a multivariate framework.

Improving the Reliability of Cognitive Task Measures: A Narrative Review

Cognitive tasks are capable of providing researchers with crucial insights into the relationship between cognitive processing and psychiatric phenomena. However, many recent studies have found that task measures exhibit poor reliability, which hampers their usefulness for individual differences research. Here, we provide a narrative review of approaches to improve the reliability of cognitive task measures. Specifically, we introduce a taxonomy of experiment design and analysis strategies for improving task reliability. Where appropriate, we highlight studies that are exemplary for improving the reliability of specific task measures. We hope that this article can serve as a helpful guide for experimenters who wish to design a new task, or improve an existing one, to achieve sufficient reliability for use in individual differences research.

Contextual framing effects on risk aversion assessed using the bomb risk elicitation task

We examine the impact of framing on individuals' risk-taking behavior in the context of health risks during the coronavirus outbreak. We elicit risk attitudes from a sample of 3,385 individuals across seven European countries using an incentivized decision-making task. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three versions of the task: one involving the risk of a bomb explosion, one involving the risk of contracting an infectious disease, and one involving opening an empty box. We find that the framing of the task significantly affects risk-taking behavior, with participants exhibiting greater risk aversion in the health task than in the bomb or neutral task. This framing effect is observed in the majority of the countries studied.

Age differences in the neural basis of decision-making under uncertainty

Humans globally are reaping the benefits of longer lives. Yet, longer life spans also require engaging with consequential but often uncertain decisions well into old age. Previous research has yielded mixed findings with regards to life span differences in how individuals make decisions under uncertainty. One factor contributing to the heterogeneity of findings is the diversity of paradigms that cover different aspects of uncertainty and tap into different cognitive and affective mechanisms. In this study, 175 participants (53.14% females, mean age = 44.9 years, SD = 19.0, age range = 16 to 81) completed functional neuroimaging versions of two prominent paradigms in this area, the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and the Delay Discounting Task. Guided by neurobiological accounts of age-related changes in decision-making under uncertainty, we examined age effects on neural activation differences in decision-relevant brain structures, and compared these across multiple contrasts for the two paradigms using specification curve analysis. In line with theoretical predictions, we find age differences in nucleus accumbens, anterior insula, and medial prefrontal cortex, but the results vary across paradigm and contrasts. Our results are in line with existing theories of age differences in decision making and their neural substrates, yet also suggest the need for a broader research agenda that considers how both individual and task characteristics determine the way humans deal with uncertainty.

Learning rules of engagement for social exchange within and between groups

Globalizing economies and long-distance trade rely on individuals from different cultural groups to negotiate agreement on what to give and take. In such settings, individuals often lack insight into what interaction partners deem fair and appropriate, potentially seeding misunderstandings, frustration, and conflict. Here, we examine how individuals decipher distinct rules of engagement and adapt their behavior to reach agreements with partners from other cultural groups. Modeling individuals as Bayesian learners with inequality aversion reveals that individuals, in repeated ultimatum bargaining with responders sampled from different groups, can be more generous than needed. While this allows them to reach agreements, it also gives rise to biased beliefs about what is required to reach agreement with members from distinct groups. Preregistered behavioral (N = 420) and neuroimaging experiments (N = 49) support model predictions: Seeking equitable agreements can lead to overly generous behavior toward partners from different groups alongside incorrect beliefs about prevailing norms of what is appropriate in groups and cultures other than one's own.

How to Measure Propensity to Take Risks in the Italian Context: The Italian Validation of the Risk Propensity Scale

Risk propensity is a multifaced construct that influences many aspects of life, such as decision making. In the present study, the psychometric characteristics of the Risk Propensity Scale (RPS) have been explored for the first time in an Italian sample. The RPS is a 7 item self-report questionnaire measuring people's tendency to take risks. The English RPS has been translated following the forward-backwards translation method, and it was filled out by 199 participants. Since its dimensionality has never been explored before, its factor structure has been analysed with exploratory factor analysis that confirmed the one-factor structure of the questionnaire and the retention of all the items. The Italian version of the RPS has high internal consistency (Cronbach alphas .78), and almost all the items were positively and significantly correlated. The convergent and discriminant validity, analysed by considering the associations with decision-making styles and an implicit measure of risk propensity, were satisfactory. Overall, the Italian version of the RPS is a valid and quick questionnaire useful to measure propensity to take risks in the Italian context.

Face Mask Use and Social Distancing Attitude of Healthcare Students: A Multi-Disciplinary Study

This multi-disciplinary, cross-sectional, and descriptive study investigated health care students' face mask use knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) and social distancing attitudes. The study was carried out from October to December 2021 and surveyed 543 health care students selected via convenience sampling from the three Shaqra University campuses in Saudi Arabia. Standard multiple linear regressions were conducted on face mask use KAP and social distancing attitude to identify their significant associated factors. The students in this study had poor knowledge and a neutral attitude towards and modest use practices of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being female, being a nursing student, and having greater self-reported COVID-19-prevention knowledge were related to higher levels of face mask use knowledge. Having higher face mask use knowledge was linked to better attitude and practice. Knowledge of COVID-19 and its prevention and decreased COVID-19 risk perception were associated with better face mask use practices. The students had more positive than negative attitudes toward social distancing. Having known someone who was infected by the virus, lower risk perception, and better face mask use practices were associated with more positive social distancing attitudes. The findings imply the need to ensure that future health care practitioners are knowledgeable, have a positive attitude and good practices concerning face mask use, and have positive attitudes toward social distancing. The study implications are relevant for health care education in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

Does pre-COVID impulsive behaviour predict adherence to hygiene and social distancing measures in youths following the COVID-19 pandemic onset? Evidence from a South African longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Engagement in protective behaviours relating to the COVID-19 pandemic has been proposed to be key to infection control. This is particularly the case for youths as key drivers of infections. A range of factors influencing adherence have been identified, including impulsivity and risk taking. We assessed the association between pre-COVID impulsivity levels and engagement in preventative measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in a longitudinal South African sample, in order to inform future pandemic planning.

METHODS

Data were collected from N = 214 youths (mean age at baseline: M = 17.81 (SD = .71), 55.6% female) living in a South African peri-urban settlement characterised by high poverty and deprivation. Baseline assessments were taken in 2018/19 and the COVID follow-up was conducted in June-October 2020 via remote data collection. Impulsivity was assessed using the Balloon Analogue Task (BART), while hygiene and social distancing behaviours were captured through self-report. Stepwise hierarchical regression analyses were performed to estimate effects of impulsivity on measure adherence.

RESULTS

Self-rated engagement in hygiene behaviours was high (67.1-86.1% "most of the time", except for "coughing/sneezing into one's elbow" at 33.3%), while engagement in social distancing behaviours varied (22.4-57.8% "most of the time"). Higher impulsivity predicted lower levels of hygiene (β = .14, p = .041) but not social distancing behaviours (β = -.02, p = .82). This association was retained when controlling for a range of demographic and COVID-related factors (β = .14, p = .047) and was slightly reduced when including the effects of a life-skills interventions on hygiene behaviour (β = -.13, p = .073).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data indicate that impulsivity may predict adolescent engagement in hygiene behaviours post COVID-19 pandemic onset in a high risk, sub-Saharan African setting, albeit with a small effect size. For future pandemics, it is important to understand predictors of engagement, particularly in the context of adversity, where adherence may be challenging. Limitations include a small sample size and potential measure shortcomings.

Individual differences in computational psychiatry: a review of current challenges

Bringing precision to the understanding and treatment of mental disorders requires instruments for studying clinically relevant individual differences. One promising approach is the development of computational assays: integrating computational models with cognitive tasks to infer latent patient-specific disease processes in brain computations. While recent years have seen many methodological advancements in computational modelling and many cross-sectional patient studies, much less attention has been paid to basic psychometric properties (reliability and construct validity) of the computational measures provided by the assays. In this review, we assess the extent of this issue by examining emerging empirical evidence. We find that many computational measures suffer from poor psychometric properties, which poses a risk of invalidating previous findings and undermining ongoing research efforts using computational assays to study individual (and even group) differences. We provide recommendations for how to address these problems and, crucially, embed them within a broader perspective on key developments that are needed for translating computational assays to clinical practice.

Bei Risiken und Nebenwirkungen fragen Sie Ihre… Patientinnen und Patienten

Zusammenfassung: Theoretischer Hintergrund: Das Verständnis der Antipsychotika-Adhärenz ist lückenhaft, obwohl sie ein Grundpfeiler der Schizophrenie-Behandlung darstellt. Die spezifische Erfassung der Wahrnehmung von Risiken bei Einnahme sowie Absetzen von Antipsychotika könnte zur Erklärung der Adhärenz beitragen. Fragestellung: Explorative Studie zur Entwicklung und ersten Evaluierung des Fragebogens zur Risikowahrnehmung von Antipsychotika (FRA). Methode: Basierend auf theoretischen Überlegungen wurde ein Itempool für die Risikowahrnehmung des Absetzens und Einnehmens von Antipsychotika generiert. Eingeschlossen wurden ambulante und stationäre F2-Patient_innen. Stichprobe 1 ( N = 120) diente zur Itemselektion und explorativen Faktorenanalyse (faktorielle Validität). Anhand Online-Stichprobe 2 ( N = 39) wurde die diskriminante und konvergente Validität analysiert. Ergebnisse: Die explorative Faktorenanalyse ergab die theoretisch erwartete zweifaktorielle Struktur. Die Korrelationen des FRA zu Adhärenzmaßen und spezifischen Medikamentenfragebögen unterstützten die konvergente und diskriminante Validität. Schlussfolgerungen: Der FRA als Erhebungsinstrument der Wahrnehmung von Antipsychotika-Risiken könnte das Verständnis von Antipsychotika-Adhärenz und von Behandlungsansätzen verbessern. Prospektive konfirmatorische Studien müssen durchgeführt werden.

Pilots' mental workload variation when taking a risk in a flight scenario: a study based on flight simulator experiments

Pilots' operation behavior in flight is associated with their mental state variables such as workload, situation awareness, stress, etc. The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamic process of mental workload for pilots who perform a risky flight task in simulated scenarios. Two empirical experiments were conducted to address this issue. In experiment one, 19 trainee pilots divided into high-risk and low-risk groups performed a target-search task in a low-altitude visual flight. The results showed a statistically significant interaction between groups and segments for heart rate variability (HRV). The same pattern of physiological results was replicated among participants in experiment two, in which 19 airline pilots completed an approach with low visibility. These findings highlighted the relationship between mental workload variation and risk-taking behavior, which could be considered in improving pilot selection and training to improve flight safety.

Chimpanzee and Human Risk Preferences Show Key Similarities

Risk preference impacts how people make key life decisions related to health, wealth, and well-being. Systematic variations in risk-taking behavior can be the result of differences in fitness expectations, as predicted by life-history theory. Yet the evolutionary roots of human risk-taking behavior remain poorly understood. Here, we studied risk preferences of chimpanzees (86 Pan troglodytes; 47 females; age = 2-40 years) using a multimethod approach that combined observer ratings with behavioral choice experiments. We found that chimpanzees' willingness to take risks shared structural similarities with that of humans. First, chimpanzees' risk preference manifested as a traitlike preference that was consistent across domains and measurements. Second, chimpanzees were ambiguity averse. Third, males were more risk prone than females. Fourth, the appetite for risk showed an inverted-U-shaped relation to age and peaked in young adulthood. Our findings suggest that key dimensions of risk preference appear to emerge independently of the influence of human cultural evolution.

Systematic comparison of risky choices in humans and monkeys

The past decades have seen tremendous progress in fundamental studies on economic choice in humans. However, elucidation of the underlying neuronal processes requires invasive neurophysiological studies that are met with difficulties in humans. Monkeys as evolutionary closest relatives offer a solution. The animals display sophisticated and well-controllable behavior that allows to implement key constructs of proven economic choice theories. However, the similarity of economic choice between the two species has never been systematically investigated. We investigated compliance with the independence axiom (IA) of expected utility theory as one of the most demanding choice tests and compared IA violations between humans and monkeys. Using generalized linear modeling and cumulative prospect theory (CPT), we found that humans and monkeys made comparable risky choices, although their subjective values (utilities) differed. These results suggest similar fundamental choice mechanism across these primate species and encourage to study their underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.

Risk-Taking Behavior of Adolescents and Young Adults Born Preterm

OBJECTIVES

To study sexually transmitted Chlamydia trachomatis infections (STCTs), teenage pregnancies, and payment defaults in individuals born preterm as proxies for engaging in risk-taking behavior.

STUDY DESIGN

Our population-based register-linkage study included all 191 705 children alive at 10 years (8492 preterm [4.4%]) born without malformations in Finland between January 1987 and September 1990 as each mother's first child within the cohort. They were followed until young adulthood. We used Cox regression to assess the hazards of STCTs, teenage pregnancies, payment defaults, criminal offending, and substance abuse by gestational age. Gestational age was considered both as a continuous and categorical (extremely, very, moderately, late preterm, early term, post term, and full term as reference) exposure.

RESULTS

A linear dose-response relationship existed between gestational age and STCT and teenage pregnancy; adjusted hazard for STCT decreased by 1.6% (95% CI, 0.7%-2.6%), and for teenage pregnancy by 3.3% (95% CI, 1.9%-4.8%) per each week decrease in gestational age. Those born extremely preterm (23-27 completed weeks) had a 51% (95% CI, 31%-83%) lower risk for criminal offending than their full-term born counterparts, and those born very preterm (range, 28-31 weeks) had a 28% (95% CI, 7%-53%) higher hazard for payment defaults than those born at full term. Gestational age was not associated with substance abuse.

CONCLUSIONS

The lower risk-taking that characterizes people born preterm seems to generalize to sexual and to some extent criminal behavior. Those born very preterm are, however, more likely to experience payment defaults.

Beyond money: Risk preferences across both economic and non-economic contexts predict financial decisions

Important decisions about risk occur in wide-ranging contexts, from investing to healthcare. While an underlying, domain-general risk attitude has been identified across contexts, it remains unclear what role it plays in shaping behavior relative to more domain-specific risk attitudes. Clarifying the relationship between domain-general and domain-specific risk attitudes would inform decision-making theories and the construction of decision aids. The present research assessed the relative contribution of domain-general and domain-specific risk attitudes to financial risk taking. We examined risk attitudes across different decision domains, as revealed through a well-validated measure, the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale (DOSPERT). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a domain-general risk attitude shaped responses across multiple domains, and structural equation modeling showed that this domain-general risk attitude predicted observed behavioral risk premiums in a financial decision-making task better than domain-specific financial risk attitudes. Thus, assessments of risk attitudes that include both economic and non-economic domains improve predictions of financial risk taking due to the enhanced insight they provide into underlying, domain-general risk preferences.

Risk-taking in the human brain: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of the balloon analog risk task (BART)

The Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) is increasingly used to assess risk-taking behavior and brain function. However, the brain networks underlying risk-taking during the BART and its reliability remain controversial. Here, we combined the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis with both task-based and task-free functional connectivity (FC) analysis to quantitatively synthesize brain networks involved in risk-taking during the BART, and compared the differences between adults and adolescents studies. Based on 22 pooled publications, the ALE meta-analysis revealed multiple brain regions in the reward network, salience network, and executive control network underlying risk-taking during the BART. Compared with adult risk-taking, adolescent risk-taking showed greater activation in the insula, putamen, and prefrontal regions. The combination of meta-analytic connectivity modeling with task-free FC analysis further confirmed the involvement of the reward, salience, and cognitive control networks in the BART. These findings demonstrate the core brain networks for risk-taking during the BART and support the utility of the BART for future neuroimaging and developmental research.

What factors can support students' deep learning in the online environment: The mediating role of learning self-efficacy and positive academic emotions?

Introduction

In 2020, COVID-19 forced higher education institutions in many countries to turn to online distance learning. The trend of using online education has accelerated across the world. However, this change in the teaching mode has led to the decline of students' online learning quality and resulted in students being unable to do deep learning. Therefore, the current research, aimed at promoting deep learning in the online environment, constructed a theoretical model with learning self-efficacy and positive academic emotions as mediators, deep learning as the dependent variable, perceived TPACK support, peer support, technical usefulness, and ease of use as independent variables.

Methods

The theoretical model was verified by SPSS26.0 and smartPLS3.0, and to assess the measurement and structural models, the PLS approach to structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed.

Results

The study found that (a) positive academic emotions play a mediating role between perceived TPACK support and deep learning, perceived peer support and deep learning, and perceived technology usefulness and ease of use and deep learning; (b) learning self-efficacy plays a mediating role between perceived TPACK support and deep learning, perceived peer support and deep learning, and perceived technology usefulness and ease of use and deep learning.

Discussion

The findings of this study fill the gaps in the research on the theoretical models of deep learning in the online environment and provide a theoretical basis for online teaching, learning quality, and practical improvement strategies.

Risks and rewards in adolescent decision-making

Adolescent decision-making has been characterized as risky, and a heightened reward sensitivity may be one of the aspects contributing to riskier choice-behavior. Previous studies have targeted reward-sensitivity in adolescence and the neurobiological mechanisms of reward processing in the adolescent brain. In recent examples, researchers aim to disentangle the contributions of risk- and reward-sensitivity to adolescent risk-taking. Here, we discuss recent findings of adolescent's risk preferences and the associated neural mechanisms. We highlight potential frameworks that target individual differences in risk preferences in an effort to understand adolescent risk-taking, and with an ultimate goal of leveraging undesirable levels of risk taking.

Positive and negative risk-taking: Age patterns and relations to domain-specific risk-taking

People take risks at all ages to achieve certain goals. Although these goals may be achieved through negative risks (e.g., adolescent drinking to impress their friends), people also take positive risks. Positive risks are theorized to help individuals achieve goals in developmentally appropriate and socially acceptable ways, such as initiating a new friendship as an adolescent, applying for a promotion as a young adult, or exploring a new hobby as a retiree. To test the hypothesis that people endorse different patterns of risk-taking across life, we examined age patterns in positive and negative risk-taking with a sample of individuals ranging in age from 12 to 71 years. In adults aged 19-71, we also examined to what extent positive and negative risk-taking are associated with domain-specific risk-taking and risk-taking propensity. Results indicated that positive risk-taking varied with age in the form of an inverted-U shape and peaked in middle adulthood. Negative antisocial risk-taking varied with age in the form of a U shape and was highest in adolescence. Negative health risk-taking varied with age in the form of an inverted-U shape and peaked in middle adulthood. In adults, greater positive risk-taking was associated with greater risk-taking in the social domain and greater risk-taking propensity. Greater negative risk-taking was associated with greater risk-taking in ethical and health/safety domains, and with greater risk-taking propensity. Altogether, this study is the first to demonstrate age patterns in positive and negative risk-taking across adolescence and adulthood. It also contributes to the validity of positive risk-taking as a construct distinct from negative risk-taking.

No effect of short term exposure to gambling like reward systems on post game risk taking

Is engaging with gambling-like video game rewards a risk factor for future gambling? Despite speculation, there are no direct experimental tests of this “gateway hypothesis”. We test a mechanism that might support this pathway: the effects of engaging with gambling-like reward mechanisms on risk-taking. We tested the hypothesis that players exposed to gambling-like rewards (i.e., randomised rewards delivered via a loot box) would show increased risk-taking compared to players in fixed and no reward control conditions. 153 participants (M_age = 25) completed twenty minutes of gameplay—including exposure to one of the three reward conditions—before completing a gamified, online version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Self-reports of gambling and loot box engagement were collected via the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and Risky Loot-Box Index. Bayesian t-tests comparing BART scores across reward conditions provided moderate to strong evidence for a null effect of condition on risk-taking (BF = 4.05–10.64). Null effects were not moderated by players’ problem gambling symptomatology. A Spearman correlation between past loot box engagement and self-reported gambling severity (r_s = 0.35) aligned with existing literature. Our data speak against a “gateway” hypothesis, but add support to the notion that problem gambling symptoms might make players vulnerable to overspending on loot boxes.