A cultural study on decision making: performance differences on the Iowa gambling task between selected groups of Brazilians and Americans

This study compared the performance of selected groups of Brazilian and American individuals on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The sample was composed of 70 Brazilian and American individuals of both genders, divided into two groups of young and older adults. The two groups of Brazilians were composed of 10 young adults, aged 25 to 41 years, and 25 older adults, aged 60 to 75 years. The two groups of Americans were composed of 10 young adults, aged 28 to 39 years, and 25 older adults, aged 60 to 76 years. A two-way analysis of variance revealed differences in performance between Brazilian and American participants, regardless of age group (country, p = .001; age group, p = .134; country vs. age group, p = .291). Analyses of variance using age group and country as main factors did not reveal any difference between the two national groups with regard to the learning achieved during the task (block, p < .001; age group, p = .063; country, p = .086). The results suggest that culture, represented by the country of origin, influences the performance of individuals on the IGT, demonstrating the importance of validating an instrument for each cultural group on which it is used.