Transition Dynamics Between Exploration and Exploitation Predicts Individual Differences in Coping Strategy

Adaptive decision-making requires balancing exploitation of known rewarding options with exploration of uncertain alternatives, a dilemma also known as the exploration-exploitation tradeoff. While this framework has been widely studied in reinforcement learning research, its relevance to coping, defined as the cognitive and behavioral strategies that individuals use to manage stress and uncertainty, remains underexplored. Maladaptive coping may reflect rigidity in exploitation or ineffective exploration, whereas adaptive coping may involve flexible adjustment of control in changing environments. In this study, we examined whether interindividual differences in the transition dynamics between explore and exploit strategy predict coping styles in a large online general population sample. A total of 1732 participants completed a three-armed restless bandit task, and their latent explore-exploit strategy states and transition patterns were modeled using a Hidden Markov Model. These computational indices of explore-exploit dynamics were then linked to self-reported psychological coping strategies using regression and canonical correlation analysis. Individuals with a greater tendency to persist in exploitative states reported less reliance on avoidant and emotion-focused coping, whereas exploratory tendencies showed distinct associations with externally oriented coping strategies. Unsupervised clustering of exploration-exploitation dynamics further revealed four distinct decision-making subtypes, each associated with unique coping profiles. These findings provide the first evidence that computational markers of explore-exploit control dynamics relate to psychological coping profiles, offering mechanistic insight into psychological adaptation and resilience.