title: Take a stand on your decisions, or take a sit: posture does not affect risk preferences in an economic task.
abstract: Physiological and emotional states can affect our decision-making processes, even when these states are seemingly insignificant to the decision at hand. We examined whether posture and postural threat affect decisions in a non-related economic domain. Healthy young adults made a series of choices between economic lotteries in various conditions, including changes in body posture (sitting vs. standing) and changes in elevation (ground level vs. atop a 0.8-meter-high platform). We compared three metrics between conditions to assess changes in risk-sensitivity: frequency of risky choices, and parameter fits of both utility and probability weighting parameters using cumulative prospect theory. We also measured skin conductance level to evaluate physiological response to the postural threat. Our results demonstrate that body posture does not significantly affect decision making. Secondly, despite increased skin conductance level, economic risk-sensitivity was unaffected by increased threat. Our findings indicate that economic choices are fairly robust to the physiological and emotional changes that result from posture or postural threat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO , United States.
authors.forename: Megan K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO , United States ; Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder, CO , United States.
authors.forename: Alaa A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ahmed
keywords: Decision-making; Economic lottery; Neuroeconomics; Posture; Prospect theory; Risk-sensitivity; Skin conductance; Threat
references.citation: PLoS One. 2010 Jun 16;5(6):e11090
references.pmid: 20585383
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2006 Dec;24(4):418-23
references.pmid: 16420978
references.citation: Exp Aging Res. 1996 Apr-Jun;22(2):185-98
references.pmid: 8735152
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2012 Oct;38(5):1159-67
references.pmid: 22506781
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2006 Dec;24(4):397-405
references.pmid: 17055728
references.citation: Science. 1987 Apr 17;236(4799):280-5
references.pmid: 3563507
references.citation: Age Ageing. 2006 May;35(3):298-303
references.pmid: 16638771
references.citation: Ergonomics. 2008 Mar;51(3):290-307
references.pmid: 18311608
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Apr 14;106(15):6088-93
references.pmid: 19332799
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2012 Apr;107(7):1952-61
references.pmid: 22236715
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2012 Jun;36(2):172-6
references.pmid: 22464634
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2013 Apr;109(7):1866-75
references.pmid: 23324319
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2014 Apr;111(7):1466-78
references.pmid: 24371293
references.citation: Exp Brain Res. 1993;97(1):139-44
references.pmid: 8131825
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e21815
references.pmid: 21779336
references.citation: Exp Brain Res. 2002 Aug;145(3):286-96
references.pmid: 12136378
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2001 Mar;127(2):267-86
references.pmid: 11316014
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2000 Oct;12(2):87-93
references.pmid: 10998604
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1991;104(2):215-9
references.pmid: 1876666
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 15;31(24):8822-31
references.pmid: 21677166
references.citation: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2001 Jul;71(1):48-52
references.pmid: 11413261
references.citation: Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2005 Aug;24(3):719-22
references.pmid: 16099373
references.citation: Exp Brain Res. 2002 Mar;143(2):160-70
references.pmid: 11880892
references.citation: Neuron. 2012 May 10;74(3):582-94
references.pmid: 22578508
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2010 Oct;21(10):1363-8
references.pmid: 20855902
references.citation: Exp Aging Res. 1993 Jan-Mar;19(1):1-13
references.pmid: 8444263
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2004 Jun;19(3):226-34
references.pmid: 15125911
references.citation: Neurosci Lett. 2008 Apr 18;435(2):120-5
references.pmid: 18337005
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2009 Apr;29(3):383-6
references.pmid: 19036589
references.citation: Psychon Bull Rev. 2008 Dec;15(6):1179-84
references.pmid: 19001587
references.citation: Gait Posture. 2009 Feb;29(2):275-9
references.pmid: 18963992
references.citation: Exp Brain Res. 2001 May;138(2):210-8
references.pmid: 11417462
references.citation: J Vestib Res. 1999;9(4):277-86
references.pmid: 10472040
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Oct 1;110(40):16271-6
references.pmid: 24048030
references.citation: Risk Anal. 2004 Apr;24(2):311-22
references.pmid: 15078302