Stress and decision-making in humans: performance is related to cortisol reactivity, albeit differently in men and women
Abstract
Acutely elevated levels of cortisol are associated with euphoria and reward-like properties related to sensation-seeking behaviour. Thus, acute stress and elevated levels of cortisol may promote risk-taking behaviour. High cortisol responders are more sensitive to immediate rewards than low cortisol responders. In this study we therefore tested whether acute stress in male and female subjects, induced by the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), affects decision-making as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and to what extent this is related to cortisol reactivity. Control subjects did not receive the stress manipulation. We specifically predict that high responders show risk-taking behaviour in the IGT compared to low responders and controls. The data show that the more (salivary) cortisol levels are elevated after the TSST the poorer the subsequent performance in the IGT in male subjects. In female subjects an inverse relationship between cortisol levels and IGT performance is observed: slightly elevated levels of cortisol after the TSST improve IGT performance, while highly elevated levels decrease IGT performance. Thus, acute stress as induced by the TSST affects decision-making behaviour of men and women differently and cortisol reactivity is associated with decision-making performance.
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HPA functioning has been linked to risk-taking behavior in standardized laboratory tasks.
“HPA functioning has also been linked to risk-taking behavior in standardized laboratory tasks (e.g., Lighthall et al., 2009; van den Bos et al., 2009; van Honk, 2003)”
From The Adaptive Calibration Model of stress responsivity (2011) · cites this paper as van den Bos et al., 2009
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Lucini, D., & Pagani, M. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18030968 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Sturge‐Apple, M. L., Davies, P. T., Cicchetti, D., Hentges, R. F., & Coe, J. L. (2016) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579416000407 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
“Moreover, van den Bos, Harteveld, and Stoop (2009) utilized an experimental manipulation of stress with adults and reported that elevated cortisol levels in response to an acute social stressor were associated with higher risk taking on the Iowa gambling task.”
BackgroundRisk preferences under acute stress
Cahlíková, J., & Cingl, L. (2016) · Experimental Economics · doi:10.1007/s10683-016-9482-3
“2 direct administration of cortisol instead of stress), others nd men take more risks under stress, while women take less (van den Bos et al., 2009; Lighthall et al., 2009; Starcke et al., 2008), or conclude on no change in risk preferences under stress (von Dawans et al., 2012).”
BackgroundFerrer, R. A., Maclay, A., Litvak, P. M., & Lerner, J. S. (2016) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.1971 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Stress influences environmental donation behavior in men
Sollberger, S., Bernauer, T., & Ehlert, U. (2015) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.10.017 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
The neurobiological effects of stress on adolescent decision making
Galván, A., & Rahdar, A. (2012) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.09.074 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Sexual Picture Processing Interferes with Decision-Making Under Ambiguity
Laier, C., Pawlikowski, M., & Brand, M. (2013) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-013-0119-8 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
The impact of stress on tournament entry
Buser, T., Dreber, A., & Möllerström, J. (2016) · Experimental Economics · doi:10.1007/s10683-016-9496-x · Cited by 66 · see citing works
“…research has documented that men and women sometimes react differently to acute stressors (this research has focused mostly, but not exclusively, on risk preferences, see e.g. Taylor et al. 2000; Lighthall et al. 2009; van den Bos et al. 2009; Angelucci and Co´rdova 2014; Kandasamy et al. 2014).”
Cortisol boosts risky decision-making behavior in men but not in women
Kluen, L. M., Agorastos, A., Wiedemann, K., & Schwabe, L. (2017) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.240 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“…as well as related behavior, however, appears to be different in men and women: whereas the majority of studies showed that stress increases risk-taking in men, stress has no effects or even decreases risk-taking in women (Lighthall et al., 2009; Lighthall et al., 2012; van den Bos et al., 2009).”
BackgroundResultThe Duty of Mind: Ethical Capacity in a Time of Crisis
Ryus, C. R., & Baruch, J. (2017) · Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness · doi:10.1017/dmp.2017.120 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Responses to stress have also been shown to vary by gender and age.(5,6) Subsequently, varied individual responses to stress will lead to heterogeneity of decisions.”
BackgroundHe, Q., Chen, M., Chen, C., Xue, G., Feng, T., & Bechara, A. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01421 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Neuroimaging studies also showed that brain regions activated by the IGT differed by gender, with females showing more left-lateralized brain activity than males (Bolla et al., 2004; van den Bos et al., 2009).”
ResultThe cost of fear: avoidant decision making in a spider gambling task.
Pittig, A., Brand, M., Pawlikowski, M., & Alpers, G. (2014) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.03.001 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Social modulation of decision-making: a cross-species review
van den Bos, R., Jolles, J. W., & Homberg, J. R. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00301 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“Women, on the other hand displayed more risk-aversive or task-focused behavior with increasing levels of cortisol (BART; Lighthall et al., 2009; IGT; van den Bos et al., 2009).”
BackgroundInfluentialGuillaume, S., Perroud, N. A., Jollant, F., Jaussent, I., Olié, É., Malafosse, A., & Courtet, P. (2012) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.10.014 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
“In healthy adults as well as in animal models, stress interferes with decision-making (van den Bos et al., 2009) but also with the behavioral and cognitive functions associated with the decisional process, such as risk-taking behavior and cognitive flexibility ( (ToledoRodriguez and Sandi, 2011)…”
BackgroundMurphy, A., Taylor, E., & Elliott, R. (2012) · Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnint.2012.00101 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
No Effects of Psychosocial Stress on Intertemporal Choice
Haushofer, J., Cornelisse, S., Seinstra, M. S., Fehr, E., Joëls, M., & Kalenscher, T. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078597 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Acute stress does not affect risky monetary decision-making
Sokol‐Hessner, P., Raio, C. M., Gottesman, S. P., Lackovic, S. F., & Phelps, E. A. (2016) · Neurobiology of Stress · doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2016.10.003 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“…respect to gender, the fi ndings are equivocal: roughly equal numbers of studies found interactions with gender (Preston et al., 2007; Lighthall et al., 2009; van den Bos et al., 2009) as did not (Starcke et al., 2008; Pabst et al., 2013b; von Helversen and Rieskamp, 2013; Kandasamy et al., 2014).”
Performance Under Stress: An Eye-Tracking Investigation of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)
Simonovic, B., Stupple, E. J. N., Gale, M., & Sheffield, D. (2018) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00217 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“Stress interferes with the learning process in healthy controls, increases risk-taking behavior and leads to disadvantageous card selections on the IGT (Preston et al., 2007; Miu et al., 2008; van den Bos et al., 2009; Robinson et al., 2015; Simonovic et al., 2017a; Starcke et al., 2017).”
BackgroundBarriers for women in the workplace: A social psychological perspective
Hanek, K. J., & Garcia, S. M. (2022) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12706 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Risk‐avoidant decision making increased by threat of electric shock
Clark, L., Li, R., Wright, C. M., Rome, F., Fairchild, G. F., Dunn, B. D., & Aitken, M. R. F. (2012) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01454.x · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Michailidis, E., & Banks, A. P. (2016) · Work & Stress · doi:10.1080/02678373.2016.1213773 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“Other research has also indicated that when making decisions under high-stress conditions, individuals make riskier decisions (Van den Bos et al., 2009).”
BackgroundClimate Change and Poverty—An Analytical Framework
Bangalore, M., Stéphane Hallegatte, A., Bonzanigo, L., Fay, M., Narloch, U., Rozenberg, J., & Vogt‐Schilb, A. (2014) · doi:10.1596/1813-9450-7126 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Akinola, M., Fridman, I., Mor, S., Morris, M. W., & Crum, A. J. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167977 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Exogenous cortisol causes a shift from deliberative to intuitive thinking
Margittai, Z., Nave, G., Strombach, T., van Wingerden, M., Schwabe, L., & Tobias Kalenscher, A. (2015) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.11.018 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Stress and Risky Decision Making: Cognitive Reflection, Emotional Learning or Both.
Simonovic, B., Stupple, E. J. N., Gale, M., & Sheffield, D. (2016) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.1980 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“For example, van den Bos et al. (2009) found that high cortisol responses to a stress induction task, the Trier Social Stress Task (Kirschbaum, Pirke & Hellhammer, 1993), were associated with decreased performance on a subsequent IGT.”
Daily stress increases risky decision‐making in adolescents: A preliminary study
Galván, A., & McGlennen, K. M. (2011) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.20602 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Probabilistic Inferences Under Emotional Stress: How Arousal Affects Decision Processes
Wichary, S., Mata, R., & Rieskamp, J. (2015) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.1896 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Gifuni, A. J., Perret, L. C., Lacourse, É., Geoffroy, M., Mbékou, V., Jollant, F., & Renaud, J. (2020) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-020-01550-3 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Yang, L., Bauer, J. A., Johnson, R. E., Groer, M. E., & Salomon, K. (2013) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0034413 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Mehta, P. H., DesJardins, N. M. L., van Vugt, M., & Josephs, R. A. (2017) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.03.009 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“Sex differences in the relationship between cortisol change and decision-making have been documented in some previous studies (e.g., the Iowa Gambling Task, van den Bos et al., 2009).”
ResultStress and strategic decision-making in the beauty contest game
Leder, J., Häusser, J. A., & Mojzisch, A. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.12.016 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
van den Bos, R., Davies, W., Dellu-Hagedorn, F., Goudriaan, A. E., Granon, S., Homberg, J. R., Rivalan, M., Swendsen, J. D., & Adriani, W. (2013) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.07.005 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Worries of the poor: The impact of financial burden on the risk attitudes of micro-entrepreneurs
Dalton, P. S., Nhung, N., & Rüschenpöhler, J. (2020) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2019.102198 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
van Hasselt, F. N., de Visser, L., Tieskens, J. M., Cornelisse, S., Baars, A. M., Lavrijsen, M., Krugers, H. J., van den Bos, R., & Joëls, M. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037820 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Sex differences in the effects of acute stress on behavior in the ultimatum game
Youssef, F. F., Bachew, R., Bissessar, S., Crockett, M. J., & Faber, N. S. (2018) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.06.012 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Neuroeconomics of Emotion and Decision Making
Lempert, K. M., & Phelps, E. A. (2013) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-416008-8.00012-7 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Koot, S., Baars, A., Hesseling, P., van den Bos, R., & Joëls, M. (2013) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.02.008 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
van den Bos, R., Taris, R., Scheppink, B., de Haan, L., & Verster, J. C. (2014) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00219 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Walking the Tightrope: A Proposed Model of Chronic Pain and Stress
Lunde, C. E., & Sieberg, C. B. (2020) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.00270 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Combined Effects of Glucocorticoid and Noradrenergic Activity on Loss Aversion
Margittai, Z., Nave, G., van Wingerden, M., Schnitzler, A., Schwabe, L., & Tobias Kalenscher, A. (2017) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2017.75 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“In line with this presumption, several studies have reported that acute stress leads to increased reward sensitivity (Sinha, 2008; van den Bos et al, 2009; Putman et al, 2010) and decreased loss sensitivity in risky decision making (Pabst et al, 2013a, 2013b).”
ResultMaking Sense of Stress: An Evolutionary—Developmental Framework
Giudice, M. D., Ellis, B. J., & Shirtcliff, E. A. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5605-6_2 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“Given the centrality of risk-taking and impulsivity in life history models of behavior, it is noteworthy that HPA functioning has also been linked to risk-taking behavior in standardized laboratory tasks (e.g., Lighthall et al., 2009; van den Bos et al., 2009).”
- Authors
- van den Bos, R., Harteveld, M., & Stoop, H.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-11
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1449-1458
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2107723514
- Cited by
- 369
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 6.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- acute stress, cortisol response, decision-making, risk-taking, sex differences, Trier Social Stress Test, Iowa Gambling Task, salivary cortisol, reward sensitivity, sensation seeking
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Decision Making, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Psychomotor Performance, Risk-Taking, Saliva, Sex Characteristics, Stress, Psychological
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