{"id":{"repo_id":"brock","oai_identifier":"oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/15223"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/brock/oai:brocku.scholaris.ca:10464/15223","repository":{"repo_id":"brock","name":"Brock University","base_url":"https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Examining the Role of Physiological Arousal in Laboratory Risk-Taking in Social and Non-Social Contexts","abstract":"Current theoretical models attribute the rise in risk-taking during adolescence to heightened activity in reward processing brain regions when in the presence of social and non-social rewarding stimuli. However, non-rewarding, but very salient stimuli, have also been shown to increase activity in reward processing brain regions and could, in theory, also increase risk taking propensity in adolescents. To examine this, we had participants complete a risk-taking task under “standard” conditions as well as under one of three experimental conditions: virtual peer observer with positive social feedback (positive social), virtual peer observer with neutral social feedback (negative social), and with triple the potential rewards (non-social positive). The study’s sample consisted of 59 mainly young adult participants (Mage = 20.69, SD = 5.08), where 22 identified as men and 37 identified as women. A multi-level model revealed no overall effect of exposure to the experimental context on risk-taking. Greater skin conductance was, unexpectedly, associated with less risk-taking. When examining each context in separate models, exposure to the non-social showed associations with increased risk-taking, whereas the positive social context did not. Negative social contexts showed a pattern of means suggesting that exposure to such contexts may be associated with increased risk-taking, but our models may have been underpowered and were unable to detect this effect. These findings suggest that the salience of a context may be an important factor to consider when exploring what drives adolescent risk-taking.","abstract_html":"Current theoretical models attribute the rise in risk-taking during adolescence to heightened activity in reward processing brain regions when in the presence of social and non-social rewarding stimuli. However, non-rewarding, but very salient stimuli, have also been shown to increase activity in reward processing brain regions and could, in theory, also increase risk taking propensity in adolescents. To examine this, we had participants complete a risk-taking task under “standard” conditions as well as under one of three experimental conditions: virtual peer observer with positive social feedback (positive social), virtual peer observer with neutral social feedback (negative social), and with triple the potential rewards (non-social positive). The study’s sample consisted of 59 mainly young adult participants (Mage = 20.69, SD = 5.08), where 22 identified as men and 37 identified as women. A multi-level model revealed no overall effect of exposure to the experimental context on risk-taking. Greater skin conductance was, unexpectedly, associated with less risk-taking. When examining each context in separate models, exposure to the non-social showed associations with increased risk-taking, whereas the positive social context did not. Negative social contexts showed a pattern of means suggesting that exposure to such contexts may be associated with increased risk-taking, but our models may have been underpowered and were unable to detect this effect. These findings suggest that the salience of a context may be an important factor to consider when exploring what drives adolescent risk-taking.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Resch, Chelsie"],"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":2021,"date_issued":"2021-10-12T16:21:30Z","date_published":"2021-10-12T16:21:30Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:23:12Z","subjects":["risk-taking","social","peers","arousal","skin conductance"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15223","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":["Resch, Chelsie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2021-10-12T16:21:30Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-10-12T16:21:30Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021-10-12T16:21:30Z"]},{"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":["risk-taking","social","peers","arousal","skin conductance"]}]},{"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/10464/15223"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Current theoretical models attribute the rise in risk-taking during adolescence to heightened activity in reward processing brain regions when in the presence of social and non-social rewarding stimuli. However, non-rewarding, but very salient stimuli, have also been shown to increase activity in reward processing brain regions and could, in theory, also increase risk taking propensity in adolescents. To examine this, we had participants complete a risk-taking task under “standard” conditions as well as under one of three experimental conditions: virtual peer observer with positive social feedback (positive social), virtual peer observer with neutral social feedback (negative social), and with triple the potential rewards (non-social positive). The study’s sample consisted of 59 mainly young adult participants (Mage = 20.69, SD = 5.08), where 22 identified as men and 37 identified as women. A multi-level model revealed no overall effect of exposure to the experimental context on risk-taking. Greater skin conductance was, unexpectedly, associated with less risk-taking. When examining each context in separate models, exposure to the non-social showed associations with increased risk-taking, whereas the positive social context did not. Negative social contexts showed a pattern of means suggesting that exposure to such contexts may be associated with increased risk-taking, but our models may have been underpowered and were unable to detect this effect. These findings suggest that the salience of a context may be an important factor to consider when exploring what drives adolescent risk-taking."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Examining the Role of Physiological Arousal in Laboratory Risk-Taking in Social and Non-Social Contexts"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.department":["Department of Psychology"],"dc:creator":["Resch, Chelsie"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2021-10-12T16:21:30Z"],"dc:date.available":["2021-10-12T16:21:30Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021-10-12T16:21:30Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Current theoretical models attribute the rise in risk-taking during adolescence to heightened activity in reward processing brain regions when in the presence of social and non-social rewarding stimuli. However, non-rewarding, but very salient stimuli, have also been shown to increase activity in reward processing brain regions and could, in theory, also increase risk taking propensity in adolescents. To examine this, we had participants complete a risk-taking task under “standard” conditions as well as under one of three experimental conditions: virtual peer observer with positive social feedback (positive social), virtual peer observer with neutral social feedback (negative social), and with triple the potential rewards (non-social positive). The study’s sample consisted of 59 mainly young adult participants (Mage = 20.69, SD = 5.08), where 22 identified as men and 37 identified as women. A multi-level model revealed no overall effect of exposure to the experimental context on risk-taking. Greater skin conductance was, unexpectedly, associated with less risk-taking. When examining each context in separate models, exposure to the non-social showed associations with increased risk-taking, whereas the positive social context did not. Negative social contexts showed a pattern of means suggesting that exposure to such contexts may be associated with increased risk-taking, but our models may have been underpowered and were unable to detect this effect. These findings suggest that the salience of a context may be an important factor to consider when exploring what drives adolescent risk-taking."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15223"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:subject":["risk-taking","social","peers","arousal","skin conductance"],"dc:title":["Examining the Role of Physiological Arousal in Laboratory Risk-Taking in Social and Non-Social Contexts"],"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":"2026-07-24T01:23:12Z"}