Research On Self-Other Decision-Making Differences In Risk Preference In The Gain And Loss Situations And Its Influencing Factors

The self–other decision-making differences in risk preference have become a hot topic in the field of decision-making research in recent years.However,existing studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding this hot issue.Some researchers found that individuals were more risk seeking when making decisions for others than for the self,whereas some researchers found that individuals were more risk seeking when deciding for themselves than for others,and some researchers even found that there was no self–other decision-making difference in risk preference.Furthermore,the existing studies on self–other decision-making differences in risk preference mostly focused on decisions in the gain situation,and scanty attention has been paid to investigating the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the loss situation.According to Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory,people show different risk preferences between in the gain situation and in the loss situation,and we should also pay attention to the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the loss situation.On the other hand,the research on how the factors regarding the self and others affect the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference is still insufficient.Based on the asymmetry of gains and losses described in the prospect theory,this research will explore the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in both gain and loss situations,and attempts to clarify the effect of social distance between others and the self as well as the personality traits of the self on such differences.This dissertation is comprised of three studies,with a total of six experiments.In study 1,two experiments were conducted to explore whether there were the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations,and whether such differences showed significant difference between in the gain and loss situations from behavioral and cognitive neural levels respectively.The experiment 1examined from the behavioral level whether there were self–other decision-makingdifferences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations.Using functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI),the experiment 2 aimed to further confirm from the neural level whether there was a difference in neural activities regarding the processing of risk preferences when deciding for the self and others in the gain and loss situations.In study 2,two experiments were conducted to investigate whether and how the social distance between others and the self influenced the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations,from the behavioral and neural level,respectively.The experiment 3 investigated the effect of social distance on the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations and its potential psychological mechanism from the behavioral level.Using functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI),the experiment 4 aimed to further examine the effect of social distance on the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations and its potential neural mechanism.In study 3,two behavioral experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of individual's level of self-esteem(basic attitude to the self,experiment 5)and social value orientation(basic attitude to others,experiment 6)on the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations.The results revealed that,firstly,there were the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations.(1)Individuals tended to be more risk-averse when making decisions for the self than for others in gain situations and tended to be more risk-seeking in loss situations,moreover,there was a greater self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the loss situation than the gain situation(experiment 1).(2)The stronger activations were observed in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex(dmPFC)and anterior insula(AI)when making decisions for the self than for others in loss situations,whereas no self–other decision-making differences were observed in these brain regions in gain situations(experiment 2).Secondly,the social distance between others and the self influenced the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations.(1)individuals tended to be more risk-averse in gain situations when making decisions for themselves than for a stranger,and were equally risk averse for themselves and their friends,and were also equally risk averse for their friends and a stranger.However,people were more risk seeking in loss situations when making decisions for themselves than for their friends which,in turn,were also more risk seeking than for a stranger.Moreover,the effect of social distance on the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference was stronger in loss situations than in gain situations(experiment 3).(2)In the loss situation,the activations in the dmPFC and AI were significantly stronger when people make decisions for themselves than for their friends and a stranger,and the activations in the dmPFC and AI were also significantly stronger when making decisions for their friends than for a stranger.However,there was no significant difference in the activations in the dm PFC and AI when people made decisions for themselves,their friends and a stranger in the gain situation(experiment 4).Thirdly,the decision makers' self-esteem and social value orientation influenced the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in the gain and loss situations.(1)Individuals with low self-esteem tended to be more risk-averse when deciding for themselves than for others in gain situations but tended to be more risk-seeking in loss situations.In contrast,individuals with high self-esteem tended to be more risk-seeking when deciding for themselves than for others in gain situations but tended to be more risk-averse in loss situations(experiment 5).(2)Individuals with individualistic orientation made more risk-averse decisions for themselves than for others in gain situations,whereas they did not show the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in loss situations.Individuals with prosocial orientation did not show the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in gain situations,whereas they made more risk-seekingdecisions for themselves than for others in loss situations(experiment 6).The above results indicate that gain–loss situation modulates the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference.That is,there is a greater self–other decision-making differences in risk preference in loss situations than in gain situations.The dmPFC and AI are the underlying neural mechanisms,which are responsible for processing the self–other decision-making risk preference.The dm PFC functions in elaboratedly calculating the value of a risky stimulus on a cognitive level,and the AI serves as a fast and rough estimate for a risky stimulus on the emotional level.The factors regarding others and the self also affect whether there are the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference and its effect size,and the self–other decision-making risk preference is not only a pure value calculation around the gains and losses,but a projection of the deeper desire and motivation from decision makers.Future research needs to further clarify the complex relationships between task characteristics,self-related factors,and others-related factors in the self–other decision-making differences in risk preference,hoping to establish an integrated theoretical model.