Decision-making and overconfidence in preschool children: The role of psychopathy features

Abstract

The current study investigated the association of psychopathy features with decision-making biases (i.e., overconfidence/goal discrepancy and unusual shifts), and if these associations varied by gender in a community sample of 175 preschoolers (80 males, Mage = 6.39; SDage = 0.57). Parents rated psychopathy features of their children using the Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI), whereas decision-making biases were assessed in an experiment using the adopted Atkinson and Litwin's (1960) ring toss paradigm.Results of the regression analyses showed that Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits and Grandiose-Deceitful (GD) interpersonal style were related to goal discrepancy, but in opposite directions. Specifically, after the first trial, once their score was made known to them, children high on CU traits exhibited less goal discrepancy (i.e., overconfidence) in a ring toss task, whereas the GD dimension was significantly related to greater overconfidence and a smaller number of unusual shifts across all trials. With respect to gender differences, callous-unemotional traits were related to a greater number of unusual shifts in females. Conversely, males exhibiting higher levels of callous-unemotional traits were less likely to make unusual shifts. These findings imply that instructions to encourage children to overconfidence need to be adapted to gender as well as personality features.