The influence of emotion perception on fair decision-making in individuals with high trait anxiety: A moderated mediation model

The present study aims to examine fair decision-making in individuals with high trait anxiety (HTA) and to further explore the role of emotion perception in shaping their decision-making processes. A 2 (trait anxiety: high vs. low) × 3 (distributive fairness: fair vs. disadvantageous unfair vs. advantageous unfair) mixed-design experiment was conducted. Twenty-seven individuals with HTA and 27 control participants completed the experiment. We employed a modified ultimatum game to measure fair decision-making and to collect the participants' emotion perception ratings for each offer. The results indicate that individuals with HTA had significantly higher acceptance rates for disadvantageous unfair offers than did the control group. Moreover, emotion perception mediated the relationship between distributive fairness and acceptance behavior, with this mediating effect being significantly stronger in the control group than in the HTA group. In summary, individuals with HTA exhibit an impaired ability to flexibly adjust their acceptance behavior based on emotion perception, tend to accept disadvantageous unfair offers, and may rely more on alternative cognitive or contextual cues in their decision-making.