Voluntary pursuit of negatively valenced stimuli from childhood to early adulthood.

ABSTRACT: Although common sense suggests that we are motivated to pursue positive and avoid negative experiences, previous research shows that people regularly seek out negative experiences. In the current study, we characterized this tendency from childhood to young adulthood. Due to the known increases in risky behavior and sensation seeking in adolescence, we hypothesized that adolescents would show an increased engagement with negatively valenced stimuli compared to children and adults. Participants aged 4-25 (N = 192) completed a behavioral task assessing motivation to engage with negative, positive, and neutral images. On each trial, participants viewed two small images and selected one to view at a larger size for up to 10s. Trials were organized into three valence conditions: negative versus

SUBMITTER: Grisanzio KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7775909 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature