Impulsivity and Reward Sensitivity differentially influence affective and deliberative risky decision making

The present study aimed to explore specific personality traits that affect risky choices by using a rela-27 tively novel computerised card game, the Columbia Card Task, to dissociate the processes of emotional 28 decision making (i.e., the Hot version of the task) and deliberative decision making (i.e., the Cold version). 29 Participants were administered either the Hot or the Cold version of the task together with standard mea-30 sures of personality traits that were hypothesised to be involved in completing the task (i.e., Sensation 31 Seeking, Impulsivity, Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment). The results of the deliberative Cold version 32 of the task revealed that participants who scored highly on the Impulsivity trait engaged in riskier deci-33 sion-making. Participants who scored highly on the Reward Responsiveness trait were found to be sen-34 sitive to variations in gains and losses in the emotional Hot version of the task. These findings enhance 35 the existing knowledge of risky decision-making by suggesting that personality traits can differentially 36 alter decision-making behaviours due to interactions with the decision-making context.