Key result
Neurobiofeedback training significantly increased the degree of probability discounting (p < 0.02) and reduced instinctive choice behavior under stress in top-level managers compared to control training.
Why the study?
Stress negatively affects decision-making processes, but very little is known about strategies to reduce these negative effects in top-level managers.
Does neurobiofeedback training improve decision making under stress in top-level managers?
RCT (n=23)
Counterbalanced
No
Does neurobiofeedback training improve decision making under stress in top-level managers?
Effect estimate: pη2 = 0.073
p-value: p=<0.02
Neurobiofeedback training may help top-level managers self-regulate stress and improve decision-making by reducing instinctive behavior.
Neurobiofeedback self-regulation training may aid stressed managers' decisions; leaves open extension to clinician cardiovascular risk contexts.
Top-level management teams are particularly exposed to stress factors as they frequently have to make important decision under stress. While an existing body of research evidence suggests that stress negatively affects decision-making processes, very little is known about possible strategies to reduce these negative effects. The aim of the current work is to investigate the effect of training self-regulation ability through neurobiofeedback on managers' intertemporal and risky decision making. Twenty-three managers were assigned to the experimental or the control condition. All participants performed, two decisional tasks, before and after a training phase. The tasks were administered through mouse tracker software, in order to measure participants' delay discounting and risk taking propensity on both explicit and implicit choice parameters. During the training phase, the experimental condition received a training protocol based on stress assessment tests via neurobiofeedback signals (i.e., temperature and skin conductance), with the goal of improving self-regulation ability while the control condition was administered a control training. The main result of this study is to have conclusively demonstrated that NBF training increases an individual's ability to self-regulate stress-related psychophysiological phenomena. Consequently, the improved ability to manage one's own reaction to stress enables a reduction in instinctive behavior during a probabilistic choice task.
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Iodice et al. (2022) conducted an RCT in Stress (n=23). Neurobiofeedback training vs. Control training (watching unrelated videos) was evaluated on Degree of probability discounting (pη2 = 0.073, p=<0.02). Neurobiofeedback training significantly increased the degree of probability discounting (p < 0.02) and reduced instinctive choice behavior under stress in top-level managers compared to control training.
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