Competitive children, cooperative mothers? Effect of various social factors on the retrospective and prospective use of theory of mind

Neural mechanisms underlying competition-induced optimal decisions in individuals with high entrepreneurial intention

In a rapidly changing and uncertain business environment, individuals with high entrepreneurial intention (HEI) inevitably need to compete or cooperate with others to maximize their gains. However, the effects of competition and cooperation on the risky decision-making and neural mechanisms of individuals with HEI are not clear. By combining the modified Devil Task and electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, the current study showed that a competition context is more likely to motivate optimal decisions and enhance the total decision gains for individuals with HEI than a cooperation context. A positive relationship between the frequency of optimal decisions and the total gains of decision-making for individuals with HEI was also found, and this relationship was mediated by the degree of entrepreneurial intention. The EEG results showed that individuals with HEI made decisions in the competition context with greater P2 amplitude of frontal regions than in the cooperation context, and source localization analyses revealed that this difference in brain activity was manifested in the medial prefrontal cortex. Finally, the results revealed a positive relationship between the P2 amplitude and the degree of entrepreneurial intention of individuals with HEI. Overall, the study suggests that competition is an effective way to motivate individuals with HEI to make optimal decisions and, thus, maximize their profits, providing new perspectives on ways to promote successful entrepreneurship.

Cooperative behavior in adolescents: a contribution of empathy and emotional regulation?

Aim

This study aims to identify different levels of empathy and emotional regulation along adolescent years and their relationship with cooperative behavior.

Methods

Eighty healthy males were divided into four age groups: 20 Early Adolescents, 20 Middle Adolescents, 20 Late Adolescents and 20 Adults. Participants responded to empathic and emotional regulation scales, then were assigned to an unknown partner to perform the prisoner's dilemma paradigm.

Results

The statistical analyses allowed to distinguish the groups on the basis of the components making up the two scales: scores on the Perspective Taking component were higher for Adults and Late Adolescents participants than for Middle Adolescents and Early Adolescents groups (p < 0.05); scores on the Personal Distress component were higher for Early Adolescents group than for Late Adolescents and Middle Adolescents groups (p < 0.05); scores on the Difficulties engaging in goal directed behavior component were higher for Middle Adolescents and Early Adolescents groups than for Adults group (p < 0.05). We observed differences between groups (p < 0.001) with higher number of cooperation responses in Adults compared to Middle Adolescents (p < 0.05) and Early Adolescents groups (p < 0.001).

Discussion

These findings suggest that the cooperative behavior changes during the different stages of adolescence seem to be related to the development of empathy and emotional regulation components.

Japanese Macaques' (Macaca fuscata) sensitivity to human gaze and visual perspective in contexts of threat, cooperation, and competition

Gaze sensitivity allows us to interpret the visual perspective of others, inferring their intentions and attentional states. In order to clarify the evolutionary history of this ability, we assessed the response of free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to human gaze in three contexts: threat (Experiment 1), cooperation (Experiment 2), and competition (Experiment 3). Subjects interpreted the direct gaze of an approaching human as a sign of threat, showing a greater flight initiation distance and more threats towards the human in this condition than when the human gazed in another direction. Subjects also adapted their behavior to the attentional cues of a human who gave them food, by for example moving into his visual field. However, the macaques did not seem to take the visual perspective of a human competing with them over food, as they failed to first retrieve the food that was not visible to the human (i.e., located behind an opaque barrier). Our results support the idea that Japanese macaques can respond to a human’s gaze flexibly depending on the context. Moreover, they highlight the importance of studying animal behavior across different species and contexts to better understand the selective pressures that might have led to its evolution.