Wang Lei, Chen Sheng, Xiao Wei
Department of Medical Psychology, Strategic Support Force Medical Center, Beijing, China.
Department of Military Medical Psychology, Air Force Medical University, Xian, China.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2023 Mar 2;17:1030098. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1030098. eCollection 2023.
To explore the effect of real-world fear on risky decision-making under certainty and uncertainty. This quasi-experimental study enrolled non-psychology undergraduate volunteers aged between 17 and 20 years old from the Preventive Medical Institute medical school in Xi'an. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, and each group received a two-stage crossover design intervention (of a calm and fearful situation) and completed the tasks of risky decision-making under uncertainty (the balloon analog risk task: BART) and certainty (the Cambridge gambling task: CGT), respectively. The primary outcomes included the behavioral impulsivity measured by the BART value, and the speed of decision-making, the quality of decisions, the adventure index, behavioral impulsivity, and risk adjustment measured by CGT. The secondary outcome was the concentration of cortisol in the saliva. A total of 60 questionnaires and data were obtained from 60 participants (28 males and 32 females, aged 19.55 ± 0.75). Compared with the calm situation, participants were more likely to have a lower BART value ( = 0.013), slower speed of decision-making ( < 0.05), and higher adventure index ( = 0.018) in the fearful situation. The quality of decisions ( = 0.189), behavioral impulsivity index ( = 0.182), and risk adjustment ( = 0.063) between subjects in the fearful and calm situations were comparable. Furthermore, the mean value of the adventure index of CGT in male subjects was significantly higher than that in female subjects ( < 0.05), and the cortisol concentration in saliva during the fearful situation was significantly higher compared to the calm situation ( < 0.05). Fear might reduce behavioral impulsivity under uncertainty, and increase the adventure index under certainty in risky decision-making. Risky behavior might be influenced by gender: under certainty in risky decision-making, men were more adventurous. Additionally, fear increased the secretion of cortisol in saliva.
为探究现实世界中的恐惧对确定性和不确定性下风险决策的影响。本准实验研究招募了来自西安预防医学院的17至20岁非心理学专业本科志愿者。参与者被随机分为两组，每组接受两阶段交叉设计干预（平静和恐惧情境），并分别完成不确定性下的风险决策任务（气球模拟风险任务：BART）和确定性下的风险决策任务（剑桥赌博任务：CGT）。主要结局包括用BART值衡量的行为冲动性，以及用CGT衡量的决策速度、决策质量、冒险指数、行为冲动性和风险调整。次要结局是唾液中皮质醇的浓度。共获得60名参与者（28名男性和32名女性，年龄19.55±0.75岁）的60份问卷和数据。与平静情境相比，参与者在恐惧情境中更有可能具有较低的BART值（P = 0.013）、较慢的决策速度（P < 0.05）和较高的冒险指数（P = 0.018）。恐惧和平静情境下受试者的决策质量（P = 0.189）、行为冲动性指数（P = 0.182）和风险调整（P = 0.063）相当。此外，男性受试者中CGT冒险指数的平均值显著高于女性受试者（P < 0.05），且恐惧情境下唾液中的皮质醇浓度显著高于平静情境（P < 0.05）。恐惧可能会降低不确定性下的行为冲动性，并增加风险决策中确定性下的冒险指数。风险行为可能受性别影响：在风险决策的确定性情境下，男性更具冒险性。此外，恐惧会增加唾液中皮质醇的分泌。
