{"id":{"repo_id":"brock","oai_identifier":"oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/13699"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/brock/oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/13699","repository":{"repo_id":"brock","name":"Brock University","base_url":"https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Development of Reward Sensitivity- Exploring the Role of Culture and Parental Education on Adolescent Development","abstract":"The period of adolescence is marked by increased levels of risk taking. One proposed reason for this developmental pattern is a rise during adolescence (relative to earlier and later periods) in the degree to which behaviors are driven by reward-seeking. However, there are individual differences in the extent to which adolescents respond to rewards. One individual difference may arise from the socioeconomic context in which youth develop. Life-history (LH) theory suggests that exposure to early childhood adversity (e.g., more typical in lower SES circumstances) unconsciously predisposes individuals toward decisions that favor instant gratification. Given that reward-seeking may increase during adolescence and early adversity may promote greater risk-taking in pursuit of reward, the present study tested whether individuals exposed to early adversity displayed heightened sensitivity to rewards during adolescence. Reward-seeking behaviors were assessed using measures of sensation-seeking, a psychological manifestation of reward-sensitivity. Participants (N= 4620) aged 10-25 from 11 diverse countries (China, Italy, Kenya, Thailand, Colombia, Jordan, Sweden, US, Philippines, India and Cyprus) completed a self-report (a subset of the Sensation-Seeking Scale) and a behavioral measure of reward sensitivity (Stoplight task). Reward sensitivity followed the expected inverted-U age trend across the full sample for both measures. A country by country analysis revealed that risky driving in the Stoplight task followed the expected age-pattern in 4 out of the 11 countries (peaking at age 16), and in 3 out of the 11 countries for self-reported sensation seeking (peaking around age 18). However, age trends did not differ as a function of SES across the full sample or within countries. Overall, these results indicate that although there is variability in how reward-sensitivity develops across cultures, one’s socioeconomic status does not appear to influence this development worldwide.","abstract_html":"The period of adolescence is marked by increased levels of risk taking. One proposed reason for this developmental pattern is a rise during adolescence (relative to earlier and later periods) in the degree to which behaviors are driven by reward-seeking. However, there are individual differences in the extent to which adolescents respond to rewards. One individual difference may arise from the socioeconomic context in which youth develop. Life-history (LH) theory suggests that exposure to early childhood adversity (e.g., more typical in lower SES circumstances) unconsciously predisposes individuals toward decisions that favor instant gratification. Given that reward-seeking may increase during adolescence and early adversity may promote greater risk-taking in pursuit of reward, the present study tested whether individuals exposed to early adversity displayed heightened sensitivity to rewards during adolescence. Reward-seeking behaviors were assessed using measures of sensation-seeking, a psychological manifestation of reward-sensitivity. Participants (N= 4620) aged 10-25 from 11 diverse countries (China, Italy, Kenya, Thailand, Colombia, Jordan, Sweden, US, Philippines, India and Cyprus) completed a self-report (a subset of the Sensation-Seeking Scale) and a behavioral measure of reward sensitivity (Stoplight task). Reward sensitivity followed the expected inverted-U age trend across the full sample for both measures. A country by country analysis revealed that risky driving in the Stoplight task followed the expected age-pattern in 4 out of the 11 countries (peaking at age 16), and in 3 out of the 11 countries for self-reported sensation seeking (peaking around age 18). However, age trends did not differ as a function of SES across the full sample or within countries. Overall, these results indicate that although there is variability in how reward-sensitivity develops across cultures, one’s socioeconomic status does not appear to influence this development worldwide.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dairywala, Khadija"],"institution":"Brock University","degree_name":"M.A. Psychology","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Faculty of Social Sciences","degree_department":"Department of Psychology","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-09-25T17:53:38Z","date_published":"2018-09-25T17:53:38Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:09Z","subjects":["adolescence","life history","reward sensitivity","dual systems","culture"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10464/13699","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Department of Psychology"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dairywala, Khadija"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2018-09-25T17:53:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-09-25T17:53:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018-09-25T17:53:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Faculty of Social Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Brock University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["adolescence","life history","reward sensitivity","dual systems","culture"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10464/13699"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The period of adolescence is marked by increased levels of risk taking. One proposed reason for this developmental pattern is a rise during adolescence (relative to earlier and later periods) in the degree to which behaviors are driven by reward-seeking. However, there are individual differences in the extent to which adolescents respond to rewards. One individual difference may arise from the socioeconomic context in which youth develop. Life-history (LH) theory suggests that exposure to early childhood adversity (e.g., more typical in lower SES circumstances) unconsciously predisposes individuals toward decisions that favor instant gratification. Given that reward-seeking may increase during adolescence and early adversity may promote greater risk-taking in pursuit of reward, the present study tested whether individuals exposed to early adversity displayed heightened sensitivity to rewards during adolescence. Reward-seeking behaviors were assessed using measures of sensation-seeking, a psychological manifestation of reward-sensitivity. Participants (N= 4620) aged 10-25 from 11 diverse countries (China, Italy, Kenya, Thailand, Colombia, Jordan, Sweden, US, Philippines, India and Cyprus) completed a self-report (a subset of the Sensation-Seeking Scale) and a behavioral measure of reward sensitivity (Stoplight task). Reward sensitivity followed the expected inverted-U age trend across the full sample for both measures. A country by country analysis revealed that risky driving in the Stoplight task followed the expected age-pattern in 4 out of the 11 countries (peaking at age 16), and in 3 out of the 11 countries for self-reported sensation seeking (peaking around age 18). However, age trends did not differ as a function of SES across the full sample or within countries. Overall, these results indicate that although there is variability in how reward-sensitivity develops across cultures, one’s socioeconomic status does not appear to influence this development worldwide."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Development of Reward Sensitivity- Exploring the Role of Culture and Parental Education on Adolescent Development"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.department":["Department of Psychology"],"dc:creator":["Dairywala, Khadija"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2018-09-25T17:53:38Z"],"dc:date.available":["2018-09-25T17:53:38Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018-09-25T17:53:38Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The period of adolescence is marked by increased levels of risk taking. One proposed reason for this developmental pattern is a rise during adolescence (relative to earlier and later periods) in the degree to which behaviors are driven by reward-seeking. However, there are individual differences in the extent to which adolescents respond to rewards. One individual difference may arise from the socioeconomic context in which youth develop. Life-history (LH) theory suggests that exposure to early childhood adversity (e.g., more typical in lower SES circumstances) unconsciously predisposes individuals toward decisions that favor instant gratification. Given that reward-seeking may increase during adolescence and early adversity may promote greater risk-taking in pursuit of reward, the present study tested whether individuals exposed to early adversity displayed heightened sensitivity to rewards during adolescence. Reward-seeking behaviors were assessed using measures of sensation-seeking, a psychological manifestation of reward-sensitivity. Participants (N= 4620) aged 10-25 from 11 diverse countries (China, Italy, Kenya, Thailand, Colombia, Jordan, Sweden, US, Philippines, India and Cyprus) completed a self-report (a subset of the Sensation-Seeking Scale) and a behavioral measure of reward sensitivity (Stoplight task). Reward sensitivity followed the expected inverted-U age trend across the full sample for both measures. A country by country analysis revealed that risky driving in the Stoplight task followed the expected age-pattern in 4 out of the 11 countries (peaking at age 16), and in 3 out of the 11 countries for self-reported sensation seeking (peaking around age 18). However, age trends did not differ as a function of SES across the full sample or within countries. Overall, these results indicate that although there is variability in how reward-sensitivity develops across cultures, one’s socioeconomic status does not appear to influence this development worldwide."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10464/13699"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:subject":["adolescence","life history","reward sensitivity","dual systems","culture"],"dc:title":["The Development of Reward Sensitivity- Exploring the Role of Culture and Parental Education on Adolescent Development"],"dc:type":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Faculty of Social Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. Psychology"],"thesis:institution_name":["Brock University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:09Z"}