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Updated: Jun 29, 2026
08:09
Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Trait anger and anger expression style in children's risky decisions
Elisa Gambetti1, Fiorella Giusberti
1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. e.gambetti@unibo.it
Aggressive Behavior
|October 8, 2008
Summary
Childhood risk decision-making is linked to anger. Trait anger and outward anger expression influence risk choices, mediated by danger appraisal and perceptions of fun and fear.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Understanding factors influencing children's risk-taking behavior is crucial for developmental psychology.
- Anger, a common emotion, may play a significant role in how children perceive and engage with risky situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between trait anger, anger expression, and risk decision-making in children.
- To explore the mediating roles of perceived danger, benefit, fun, and fear in this relationship.
Main Methods:
- 104 children completed a risk decision-making task and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory for Children and Adolescents.
- Participants rated perceived danger, benefit, fun, and fear for each risky choice.
Main Results:
- Risk decision-making was predicted by both trait anger and outward anger expression.
- Appraisal of danger fully mediated the link between trait anger and risk.
- Perceptions of benefit, fear, and fun partially mediated the trait anger-risk relationship.
- Danger appraisal partially mediated the relationship between outward anger expression and risk decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Dispositional anger is significantly related to risk decision-making in childhood.
- Cognitive (danger appraisal) and emotive (fun, fear) factors mediate the anger-risk decision-making link.
- Findings highlight the importance of considering cognitive and emotive processes in understanding personality traits and risk-taking behavior.
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