title: Economic decision-making in morning/evening-type people as a function of time of day.
abstract: Decision-making is affected by psychological factors like emotional state or cognitive control, which may also vary with circadian rhythmicity. Here, we tested the influence of chronotype (32 morning-type versus 32 evening-type) and time of day (9 a.m. versus 5 p.m.) on interpersonal decision-making as measured by the Ultimatum Game. Participants had to accept or reject different economic offers proposed by a virtual participant. Acceptance involved distribution of gains as proposed, whereas rejection resulted in no gain for either player. The results of the game showed a deviation from rational performance, as participants usually rejected the unfair offers. This behaviour was similar for both chronotype groups, and in both times of day. This result may reflect the robustness of decision-making strategies across standard circadian phases under ecological conditions. Furthermore, morning-types invested more time than evening-types to respond to high-uncertainty offers. This more cautious decision-making style of morning-types fits with our finding of higher proactive control as compared to evening-types when performing the AX-Continuous Performance Task. In line with the literature on personality traits, our results suggest that morning-types behave with more conscientiousness and less risk-taking than evening-type individuals.
authors: a Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento, Universidad de Granada , Granada , Spain.
authors: Angel
authors: A
authors: Correa
authors: a Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento, Universidad de Granada , Granada , Spain.|b Dipartimento di Psicologia , Università di Bologna , Bologna , Italy.
authors: Noelia
authors: N
authors: Ruiz-Herrera
authors: a Centro de Investigación Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento, Universidad de Granada , Granada , Spain.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Ruz
authors: b Dipartimento di Psicologia , Università di Bologna , Bologna , Italy.
authors: Lorenzo
authors: L
authors: Tonetti
authors: c Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine , University of Bologna , Bologna , Italy.
authors: Monica
authors: M
authors: Martoni
authors: d Department of Psychology , Second University of Naples , Caserta , Italy.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Fabbri
authors: b Dipartimento di Psicologia , Università di Bologna , Bologna , Italy.
authors: Vincenzo
authors: V
authors: Natale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005716:Game Theory; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018803:Models, Economic; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012890:Sleep; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: AX-continuous performance task; chronotype; circadian rhythms; economic decision-making; eveningness; morningness; time of day; ultimatum game