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This study analysed children's Theory of Mind (ToM) as assessed by mental state talk in oral narratives. We hypothesized that the children's mental state talk in narratives has an underlying structure, with specific terms organized in clusters. Ninety-eight children attending the last year of kindergarten were asked to tell a story twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Mental state talk was analysed by identifying terms and expressions referring to perceptual, physiological, emotional, willingness, cognitive, moral, and sociorelational states. The cluster analysis showed that children's mental state talk is organized in two main clusters: perceptual states and affective states. Results from the study confirm the feasibility of narratives as an outlet to inquire mental state talk and offer a more fine-grained analysis of mental state talk structure.

Abstract. Existing research showed that negative mood and the anticipated fear of bad outcomes lead people to prefer risk-averse tendencies, and these effects have often been implicitly considered as a universal phenomenon. Nevertheless, interactionist accounts emphasized the importance of both person and situation in predicting outcomes. We aimed to prove whether trait Emotional Intelligence (EI; a person's characteristic) was related to risk-taking through factors naturally occurring in decision-making processes (i.e., negative mood and anticipated fear). One hundred fifty-eight participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the anticipated fear rating and the hot-Columbia Card Task (CCT; a risk-taking measure), 1 month following assessment of trait EI. Results showed that negative mood and anticipated fear were two simultaneous mediators of the relationship between trait EI and risk-taking.