Preprint of “How does peer competition modulates risk-taking behavior: Evidence from Event-related potentials (ERPs) in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART)”
The relation between peer influence and risk-taking behaviors has received extensive empirical attention. However, the underlying mechanisms of whether how two-way conflicting context influences risk-taking behaviors still remain unclear. To this end, the current study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how peer competition affects risk-taking behaviors among adolescents. Twenty-four college students completed a Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) under two contexts: single and peer competition condition. Behavioral results showed that participants prefer risk aversion in competitive context. ERPs results showed that participants induce higher N2 under peer competition in the decision-making phase. In the feedback phase, a higher P300 was observed in single condition while a more negative feedback-related negativity (FRN) was showed after loss feedback. Results are in line with social comparison theory and reinforcement learning theory. The specific effect of peer influence on risk-taking behavior has been discussed.