Dataset Information

The Dark Triad trait of psychopathy and message framing predict risky decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The effects of framing on risky decision-making have been studied extensively in research using Kahneman and Tversky's (1981) hypothetical scenario about a contagious Asian disease. The COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to test how message framing affects risky decision-making when millions of real lives are at stake worldwide. In a sample of US adults (N = 294), we investigated the effects of message framing and personality (Dark Triad traits) in relation to risky decision-making during the COVID-19 crisis. We found that both gain- and loss-framing influenced risk choice in response to COVID-19. People were more risk-averse in the loss condition of the current study compared to the benchmark established by Tversky and Kahneman (1981). Among the Dark Triad traits, psychopathy emerged as the significant predictor of risk taking, suggesting that people who score high in psychopathy are more likely to gamble with other people's lives during the COVID-19 crisis. We suggest that both voters and pandemic-related public awareness campaigns should consider the possibility that decision-makers with psychopathic tendencies may take greater risks with other people's lives during a pandemic. In addition, the framing of public-health messages should be tailored to increase the chances of compliance with government restrictions.

SUBMITTER: Doerfler SM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8250605 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The Dark Triad trait of psychopathy and message framing predict risky decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doerfler Stephen M SM Tajmirriyahi Maryam M Dhaliwal Amandeep A Bradetich Aaron J AJ Ickes William W Levine Daniel S DS

International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie 20210413 4

The effects of framing on risky decision-making have been studied extensively in research using Kahneman and Tversky's (1981) hypothetical scenario about a contagious Asian disease. The COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to test how message framing affects risky decision-making when millions of real lives are at stake worldwide. In a sample of US adults (N = 294), we investigated the effects of message framing and personality (Dark Triad traits) in relation to risky decision-making du ...[more]

PMID: 33851414

Similar Datasets

Project description:Pubertal development is a potential trigger for increases in risk-taking behaviours during adolescence. Here, we sought to investigate the relationship between puberty and neural activation during risky decision-making in males using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Forty-seven males aged 12.5-14.5 years completed an fMRI risk-taking task (BART) and reported their tendencies for risky decision-making using a self-report questionnaire. Puberty was assessed through self-reported pubertal status and salivary testosterone levels. Testosterone concentration, but not physical pubertal status, was positively correlated with self-reported risk-taking behaviour, while neither was correlated with BART performance. Across the whole sample, participants had greater activation of the bilateral nucleus accumbens and right caudate on trials when they made a successful risky decision compared to trials when they made a safe choice or when their risky decision was unsuccessful. There was a negative correlation between pubertal stage and brain activation during unsuccessful risky decision-making trials compared within unsuccessful control trials. Males at a lower stage of pubertal development showed increased activation in the left insula, right cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), right putamen and right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) relative to more pubertally mature males during trials when they chose to take a risk and the balloon popped compared to when they watched the computer make an unsuccessful risky decision. Less pubertally mature males also showed greater activation in brain regions including the dmPFC, right temporal and frontal cortices, right OFC, right hippocampus and occipital cortex in unsuccessful risky trials compared to successful risky trials. These results suggest a puberty-related shift in neural activation within key brain regions when processing outcomes of risky decisions, which may reduce their sensitivity to negative feedback, and in turn contribute to increases in adolescent risk-taking behaviours.

Dataset Information

The Dark Triad trait of psychopathy and message framing predict risky decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publications

The Dark Triad trait of psychopathy and message framing predict risky decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets