Biased probability estimates in trait anxiety and trait depression are unrelated to biased availability

• Published in: Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry Vol. 73; p. 101672
• Main Authors: Booth, Robert W., Sharma, Dinkar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Anxiety; Availability; Availability heuristic; Bias; Cost bias; Depression; Emotional disorders; Heuristic; Individual differences; Mental depression; Negative events; Positive life events; Probability; Probability bias; Trait anxiety; Undergraduate students; Depression; Availability heuristic; Anxiety; Probability bias; Cost bias

People high in trait anxiety or depression overestimate the probability of negative events, and underestimate the probability of positive events, relative to people low in trait anxiety and depression. Although this probability bias may be fundamental to some emotional disorders, its causes are not...