Presa di decisione in situazioni rischiose: effetto della rabbia

The current studies assessed the role of trait anger and anger expression styles on risk decision-making in adulthood, adolescence and childhood. In the first experiment 158 adults completed the STAXI-2 and an inventory consisting of a battery of hypothetical everyday decision-making scenarios. Participants were also asked to evaluate the perception of risk for each chosen option and some contextual characteristics, that are familiarity and salience for each scenario. The study provides evidence for a relationship between individual differences in the tendency to feel and express anger and risky decisions and for mediation effects of familiarity and salience appraisals. Moreover, results indicated that trait anger was predictive of risk perception and they provide evidence for a positive relationship between risk decision-making and risk perception. In the second study, we examined the relationship between specific components of anger (i.e., cognitive, affective and behavioural) and risk decision-making in adolescents. 101 subjects completed specific tasks, measuring risk decision-making, assessed using hypothetical choice scenarios, and anger, evaluated through the STAXI-CA and the MSAI-R. Results showed that adolescents higher on hostility, anger experience and destructive expression, make more risky decisions in everyday life situations. Moreover, regression analyses indicated that destructive expression of anger and hostility were predictive of adolescents’ risky decisions. In the third experiment, 104 children completed three tasks: the STAXI-CA, the MSAI-R and a task measuring risk decision-making in everyday situations. Subjects were also asked to evaluate the degree of danger, benefit, fun and fear perceived for each risky choice. Analyses indicated that: (a) risk decision-making was predicted by both trait anger and outward expression of anger; (b) destructive expression o anger was predictive of children’s risky decisions; (c) appraisal of danger fully mediated the relation between trait anger and risk; (d) perceptions of benefit, scare and fun partially mediated the relationship between trait anger and risk; and (e) appraisal of danger partially mediated the relationship between outward expression of anger and risk decision-making. The results provide evidence for a relationship between dispositional anger and risk decision-making during childhood, suggesting a possible explanation of the mechanisms below. In particular, risk decision-making can be viewed as the output of cognitive and emotive processes, linked to dispositional anger that leads children to be amused, optimistic and fearless in potentially risky situations. These findings substantiate the importance of incorporating cognitive and emotive factors in theories that seek to explain the relationship between personality traits and risk decision making across a broad range of age.