Introduction: Decision-making is not purely rational but highlighted by the influence of intuitive and emotional processes. Recently, researchers have focused more attention on understanding which environmental and personal features influence decision-making processes, and how. Objective and methods: On this study, we investigate whether Trait Anxiety moderates the impact of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) symptoms reported during COVID-19 pandemic on decision-making styles. Results: The study included 1,358 Brazilian participants (80% women) aged between 20 and 74 (M = 41.11; SD = 11.23) who responded to an online survey between May and August of the year 2021 of COVID-19 pandemic to The State–Trait Anxiety Inventory, The Decisions Styles Scale, The Impact of Event Scale – Revised and questions related to COVID-19. Through moderation analysis, we observed that experiencing PTS is associated with a higher tendency to biased/heuristic decision-making processes. Discussion: Trait Anxiety seems to influence how people respond to PTS symptoms on decision-making related processes. Subjects with higher Trait Anxiety reported lower tendency to appeal to rationality, especially under higher reported levels of PTS. Meanwhile, lower Trait Anxiety subjects exhibited more reason-based decision-making under higher rates of PTS. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of the interplay among environmental and individual differences on decision-making styles and helps to identify factors of vulnerability for poorer cognitive functioning on stressful scenarios.
CITATION STYLE
Marques da Rocha, M. C., Malloy-Diniz, L. F., Romano-Silva, M. A., Joaquim, R. M., Serpa, A. L. de O., Paim Diaz, A., … de Miranda, D. M. (2023). Decision-making styles during stressful scenarios: The role of anxiety in COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1105662
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