Attentional Biases in Health Decision Making

Abstract

Attentional biases play a crucial role in health decision-making, influencing the choices individuals make regarding their well-being. Attentional biases impact health decisions by facilitating stimulus-directed processing of health choices, which is more superficial in nature. This chpater aims to explore the role of stimulus-directed attentional processing from the perspective of neuroeconomics, examining the role of subjective value, cognitive load, risk-taking tendencies, and uncertainty in making health decisions. Stimulus-directed processing, along with these variables, increases the reward value of certain stimuli over others, leading to suboptimal health decisions. Insights into the neural basis of decision-making offer predictive power regarding health behaviors and the potential for targeted interventions to mitigate attentional biases. Understanding these biases can enhance well-being by informing strategies for healthier choices and addressing related mental health issues.