Abstract

The central role of emotion in decision-making and risk-seeking is beginning to be well understood. Yet, we still know very little about how people make decisions for others or how decision making develops.
We tested 3-11 year old children’s risky decisions for self and others using the Balloon Analogue Risk Test (BART). In the BART participants blow up a series of virtual balloons to win prizes; the bigger the balloon, the bigger the prize, but as the balloon can pop at any time, pursuing larger prizes is a risky strategy. Children played the game for themselves and for another child (either their best friend or a stranger). As risk is related to emotion, we measured Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) on all trials. Children made more risky decisions for strangers than for themselves or their best friends. These
results will be discussed in relation to the Somatic Distortion theory of decision making (Tunney & Ziegler, under review).