Development of wishful thinking in 7 to 14 year-old Iranian children and adolescences

Several studies have investigated wishful thinking or desirability bias in children and adults, while no research has been conducted on the evolution of wishful thinking in childhood and adolescence. The present research aims to investigate the evolution of wishful thinking in Iranian children and adolescents aged 7-14. This study is an evolutional one with a cross- sectional method. The statistical society of the research consists of all the students aged 7- 14 in public schools in the scholastic year of 2019-2020. The sample consists of 240 individuals in 4 age groups (each group is made up of 30 girls and 30 boys) who were selected by convenience sampling method. The instrument used is a marked- card test which was designed as a web-based software. The data were analyzed by a variance analysis (ANOVA) via repeated measuring. The results of this study showed that wishful thinking in Iranian children and adolescents not only does not decrease with age, but also people aged 11-14 years show more severe bias than children 7-10 years old in predicting unpleasant events, Considering the effect of wishful thinking in the decision-making process, especially in predicting negative events and consequently in the occurrence of risky behaviors, further research is necessary to find solutions for awareness and balance of wishful thinking.