Probing the Association of a Behavioral Measure of Optimistic Bias With Depressive Symptoms and Reward Sensitivity in the Laboratory

Prior research by Tali Sharot and colleagues using a belief-updating task suggests that optimistic bias is sensitive to changes in brain dopamine levels. Two highly cited studies with small samples (N < 40) from the same research group further suggest that this optimistic bias correlates with depressive symptoms. Our recent attempt to replicate this association in an online study and test for the first time whether optimistic bias is also associated with trait reward sensitivity did not yield any significant effects of interest (see https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5583). Aiming to probe whether the online setting underlies this unexpected finding, we now repeat the study in the laboratory. We aim to replicate the correlation between optimistic bias and depression and also explore a potential association with trait reward sensitivity and trait optimism. In addition, to inform interpretation of potential associations we aim to probe the reliability of the measures of optimistic bias. Results of this study will add an individual differences perspective to an ongoing debate on the validity of the belief-updating task. unknown other