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Li Q, Lai X, Li T, Madsen KH, Xiao J, Hu K, Feng C, Fu D, Liu X. Brain responses to self- and other- unfairness under resource distribution context: Meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Neuroimage 2024; 297:120707. [PMID: 38942102 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Under resource distribution context, individuals have a strong aversion to unfair treatment not only toward themselves but also toward others. However, there is no clear consensus regarding the commonality and distinction between these two types of unfairness. Moreover, many neuroimaging studies have investigated how people evaluate and respond to unfairness in the abovementioned two contexts, but the consistency of the results remains to be investigated. To resolve these two issues, we sought to summarize existing findings regarding unfairness to self and others and to further elucidate the neural underpinnings related to distinguishing evaluation and response processes through meta-analyses of previous neuroimaging studies. Our results indicated that both types of unfairness consistently activate the affective and conflict-related anterior insula (AI) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/supplementary motor area (dACC/SMA), but the activations related to unfairness to self appeared stronger than those related to others, suggesting that individuals had negative reactions to both unfairness and a greater aversive response toward unfairness to self. During the evaluation process, unfairness to self activated the bilateral AI, dACC, and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), regions associated with unfairness aversion, conflict, and cognitive control, indicating reactive, emotional and automatic responses. In contrast, unfairness to others activated areas associated with theory of mind, the inferior parietal lobule and temporoparietal junction (IPL-TPJ), suggesting that making rational judgments from the perspective of others was needed. During the response, unfairness to self activated the affective-related left AI and striatum, whereas unfairness to others activated cognitive control areas, the left DLPFC and the thalamus. This indicated that the former maintained the traits of automaticity and emotionality, whereas the latter necessitated cognitive control. These findings provide a fine-grained description of the common and distinct neurocognitive mechanisms underlying unfairness to self and unfairness to others. Overall, this study not only validates the inequity aversion model but also provides direct evidence of neural mechanisms for neurobiological models of fairness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Xinyu Lai
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China; Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing, PR China; CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, PR China; Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Ting Li
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, PR China
| | - Kristoffer Hougaard Madsen
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Jing Xiao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, PR China
| | - Kesong Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR, USA
| | - Chunliang Feng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China; School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China; Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Di Fu
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Surrey, England.
| | - Xun Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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Xu H, Luo L, Zhu R, Zhao Y, Zhang L, Zhang Y, Feng C, Guan Q. Common and distinct equity preferences in children and adults. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1330024. [PMID: 38420165 PMCID: PMC10899522 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1330024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Fairness plays a crucial role in children's social life and has garnered considerable attention. However, previous research and theories primarily examined the development of children's fairness behaviors in the conflict between self-interest motivation and fairness-complying motivation, neglecting the influence of advantage-seeking motivation. Moreover, despite the well-established role of gain/loss frame in human decision-making, it remains largely unclear whether the framing effect modulates fairness behaviors in children. It was hypothesized that children would exhibit advantage-seeking motivation resulting in more selfish behaviors in the loss context. To examine the hypothesis, we combined an adapted dictator game and computational modeling to investigate various motivations underlying fairness behaviors of children in both loss and gain contexts and to explore the developmental directions by contrasting children and adults. In addition, the current design enabled the dissociation between fairness knowledge and behaviors by asking participants to decide for themselves (the first-party role) or for others (the third-party role). This study recruited a total of 34 children (9-10 years, Mage = 9.82, SDage = 0.38, 16 females) and 31 college students (Mage = 19.81, SDage = 1.40, 17 females). The behavioral results indicated that children behaved more selfishly in first-party and more fairly in third-party than adults, without any significant framing effects. The computational results revealed that both children and adults exhibited aversion to advantageous and disadvantageous inequity in third-party. However, they showed distinct preferences for advantageous inequity in first-party, with advantage-seeking preferences among children and aversion to advantageous inequity among adults. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of children's social preferences and their developmental directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Xu
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Lanxin Luo
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ruida Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yue Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Luansu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yaqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunliang Feng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qing Guan
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, China
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3
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Xu Q, Hu J, Qin Y, Li G, Zhang X, Li P. Intention affects fairness processing: Evidence from behavior and representational similarity analysis of event-related potential signals. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:2451-2464. [PMID: 36749642 PMCID: PMC10028638 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In an ultimatum game, the responder must decide between pursuing self-interest and insisting on fairness, and these choices are affected by the intentions of the proposer. However, the time course of this social decision-making process is unclear. Representational similarity analysis (RSA) is a useful technique for linking brain activity with rich behavioral data sets. In this study, electroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure the time course of neural responses to proposed allocation schemes with different intentions. Twenty-eight participants played an ultimatum game as responders. They had to choose between accepting and rejecting the fair or unfair money allocation schemes of proposers. The schemes were offered based on the proposer's selfish intention (monetary gain), altruistic intention (donation to charity), or ambiguous intention (unknown to the responder). We used a spatiotemporal RSA and inter-subject RSA (IS-RSA) to explore the connections between event-related potentials (ERPs) after offer presentation and intention presentation with four types of behavioral data (acceptance, response time, fairness ratings, and pleasantness ratings). The spatiotemporal RSA results revealed that only response time variation was linked with the difference in ERPs at 432-592 ms after offer presentation on the posterior parietal and prefrontal regions. Meanwhile, the IS-RSA results found a significant association between inter-individual differences in response time and differences in ERP activity at 596-812 ms after the presentation of ambiguous intention, particularly in the prefrontal region. This study expands the intention-based reciprocal model to the third-party context and demonstrates that brain activity can represent response time differences in social decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Xu
- Brain Function and Psychological Science Research Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jiali Hu
- Brain Function and Psychological Science Research Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yi Qin
- Brain Function and Psychological Science Research Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Guojie Li
- Brain Function and Psychological Science Research Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xukai Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Peng Li
- Brain Function and Psychological Science Research Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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Long C, Hu X, Qi G, Zhang L. Self-interest is intuitive during opportunity (in)equity: Evidence from multivariate pattern analysis of electroencephalography data. Neuropsychologia 2022; 174:108343. [PMID: 35932948 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
Fairness is a remarkable preference for human society, involving both outcome and opportunity equity. Most previous studies have explored whether fairness itself or self-interest is intuitive during outcome (in)equity. However, intuition during outcome (in)equity can be affected by both fairness level and actual payoff. Since opportunity (in)equity is only affected by the fairness level, we explored only intuition during fairness by measuring event-related potential responses to opportunity (in)equity. Participants played a social non-competitive two-person choice game with advantage opportunity inequity (AI), opportunity equity (OE), and disadvantage opportunity inequity (DI). The behavioral results suggested an opportunity inequity bias, with greater feelings of fairness and pleasantness during OE than during AI and DI. However, multivariate pattern analysis of the event-related potential (ERP) data suggested that AI, OE, and DI can be significantly distinguished from each other in relatively early windows overlapping with early positive negativity (EPN), and AI and DI can be significantly further distinguished during a relatively late window overlapping with late positive potential (LPP). Moreover, the conventional ERP analysis found that EPN amplitudes were more negative for AI than for OE and DI, as well as for OE than for DI, suggesting a pleasure bias for increased self-interest. LPP amplitudes were greater for DI than for AI and OE, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to DI. These results suggest that self-interest is intuitive during opportunity (in)equity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changquan Long
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
| | - Xin Hu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Guomei Qi
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Liping Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
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5
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Fairness decision-making of opportunity equity in gain and loss contexts. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Gao X, Yu H, Sáez I, Blue PR, Zhu L, Hsu M, Zhou X. Distinguishing neural correlates of context-dependent advantageous- and disadvantageous-inequity aversion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:E7680-E7689. [PMID: 30061413 PMCID: PMC6099874 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1802523115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans can integrate social contextual information into decision-making processes to adjust their responses toward inequity. This context dependency emerges when individuals receive more (i.e., advantageous inequity) or less (i.e., disadvantageous inequity) than others. However, it is not clear whether context-dependent processing of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity involves differential neurocognitive mechanisms. Here, we used fMRI to address this question by combining an interactive game that modulates social contexts (e.g., interpersonal guilt) with computational models that enable us to characterize individual weights on inequity aversion. In each round, the participant played a dot estimation task with an anonymous coplayer. The coplayer would receive pain stimulation with 50% probability when either of them responded incorrectly. At the end of each round, the participant completed a variant of dictator game, which determined payoffs for him/herself and the coplayer. Computational modeling demonstrated the context dependency of inequity aversion: when causing pain to the coplayer (i.e., guilt context), participants cared more about the advantageous inequity and became more tolerant of the disadvantageous inequity, compared with other conditions. Consistently, neuroimaging results suggested the two types of inequity were associated with differential neurocognitive substrates. While the context-dependent processing of advantageous inequity was associated with social- and mentalizing-related processes, involving left anterior insula, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, the context-dependent processing of disadvantageous inequity was primarily associated with emotion- and conflict-related processes, involving left posterior insula, right amygdala, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. These results extend our understanding of decision-making processes related to inequity aversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxue Gao
- Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Hongbo Yu
- Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Ignacio Sáez
- Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Philip R Blue
- Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Lusha Zhu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking University-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Ming Hsu
- Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Xiaolin Zhou
- Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking University-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Institute of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang 321004, China
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Long C, Sun Q, Jia S, Li P, Chen A. Give Me a Chance! Sense of Opportunity Inequality Affects Brain Responses to Outcome Evaluation in a Social Competitive Context: An Event-Related Potential Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:135. [PMID: 29681808 PMCID: PMC5897545 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
People are strongly motivated to pursue social equality during social interactions. Previous studies have shown that outcome equality influences the neural activities of monetary feedback processing in socioeconomic games; however, it remains unclear whether perception of opportunity equality affects outcome evaluation even when outcomes are maintained equal. The current study investigated the electrophysiological activities of outcome evaluation in different instructed opportunity equality conditions with event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants were asked to play a competitive dice game against an opponent to win money. Opportunity equality was manipulated in three conditions, depending on whether participants were allowed the opportunity to throw less, equal, or more dice compared to their opponents. Although participants received a winning outcome with approximately 50% chance in all equality conditions, they selectively exhibited sensitivity to the less-dice condition by reporting stronger feelings of unfairness and unpleasantness than in the equal and more-dice conditions. In line with the behavioral results, larger reward positivity amplitudes were elicited by the monetary outcome in the less-dice condition than in the other two conditions, reflecting intensified reward prediction error (RPE) signals under negative emotional arousal. Further, P3 amplitudes were enhanced following reward feedback only in the unequal conditions, perhaps due to the high-level motivational and affective processing associated with resolving conflict between social norms and self-interest. The present findings elucidate the complex temporal course of outcome evaluation processes in different opportunity equality conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changquan Long
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Qian Sun
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Shiwei Jia
- School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Peng Li
- College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Antao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality of the Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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8
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Luo Y, Eickhoff SB, Hétu S, Feng C. Social comparison in the brain: A coordinate-based meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies on the downward and upward comparisons. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:440-458. [PMID: 29064617 PMCID: PMC6866367 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Revised: 09/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Social comparison is ubiquitous across human societies with dramatic influence on people's well-being and decision making. Downward comparison (comparing to worse-off others) and upward comparison (comparing to better-off others) constitute two types of social comparisons that produce different neuropsychological consequences. Based on studies exploring neural signatures associated with downward and upward comparisons, the current study utilized a coordinate-based meta-analysis to provide a refinement of understanding about the underlying neural architecture of social comparison. We identified consistent involvement of the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in downward comparison and consistent involvement of the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in upward comparison. These findings fit well with the "common-currency" hypothesis that neural representations of social gain or loss resemble those for non-social reward or loss processing. Accordingly, we discussed our findings in the framework of general reinforcement learning (RL) hypothesis, arguing how social gain/loss induced by social comparisons could be encoded by the brain as a domain-general signal (i.e., prediction errors) serving to adjust people's decisions in social settings. Although the RL account may serve as a heuristic framework for the future research, other plausible accounts on the neuropsychological mechanism of social comparison were also acknowledged. Hum Brain Mapp 39:440-458, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and LearningBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Simon B. Eickhoff
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical FacultyHeinrich Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorfGermany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM‐7)Research Centre JülichJülichGermany
| | - Sébastien Hétu
- Department of PsychologyUniversité de MontréalMontrealQCCanada
| | - Chunliang Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and LearningBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
- College of Information Science and TechnologyBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
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9
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The Neural Basis of Changing Social Norms through Persuasion. Sci Rep 2017; 7:16295. [PMID: 29176682 PMCID: PMC5701130 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-16572-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Social norms regulate behavior, and changes in norms have a great impact on society. In most modern societies, norms change through interpersonal communication and persuasive messages found in media. Here, we examined the neural basis of persuasion-induced changes in attitude toward and away from norms using fMRI. We measured brain activity while human participants were exposed to persuasive messages directed toward specific norms. Persuasion directed toward social norms specifically activated a set of brain regions including temporal poles, temporo-parietal junction, and medial prefrontal cortex. Beyond these regions, when successful, persuasion away from an accepted norm specifically recruited the left middle temporal and supramarginal gyri. Furthermore, in combination with data from a separate attitude-rating task, we found that left supramarginal gyrus activity represented participant attitude toward norms and tracked the persuasion-induced attitude changes that were away from agreement.
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Takesue H, Miyauchi CM, Sakaiya S, Fan H, Matsuda T, Kato J. Human pursuance of equality hinges on mental processes of projecting oneself into the perspectives of others and into future situations. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5878. [PMID: 28724902 PMCID: PMC5517530 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05469-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In the pursuance of equality, behavioural scientists disagree about distinct motivators, that is, consideration of others and prospective calculation for oneself. However, accumulating data suggest that these motivators may share a common process in the brain whereby perspectives and events that did not arise in the immediate environment are conceived. To examine this, we devised a game imitating a real decision-making situation regarding redistribution among income classes in a welfare state. The neural correlates of redistributive decisions were examined under contrasting conditions, with and without uncertainty, which affects support for equality in society. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the caudate nucleus were activated by equality decisions with uncertainty but by selfless decisions without uncertainty. Activation was also correlated with subjective values. Activation in both the dACC and the caudate nucleus was associated with the attitude to prefer accordance with others, whereas activation in the caudate nucleus reflected that the expected reward involved the prospective calculation of relative income. The neural correlates suggest that consideration of others and prospective calculation for oneself may underlie the support for equality. Projecting oneself into the perspective of others and into prospective future situations may underpin the pursuance of equality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hirofumi Takesue
- Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Carlos Makoto Miyauchi
- Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute, 6-1-1 Tamagawagakuen, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan
| | - Shiro Sakaiya
- Graduate School of Social Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hongwei Fan
- Oracle (China) Software Systems Co., Ltd., 21/F, Unit C, Yuanyang Guanghua Center, No.5, Jinghua (S) St.,C Beijing, Beijing, 100020, China
| | - Tetsuya Matsuda
- Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute, 6-1-1 Tamagawagakuen, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan
| | - Junko Kato
- Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. .,Institute for Diversity and Adaptation of Human Mind, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.
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11
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Lukinova E, Myagkov M. Impact of Short Social Training on Prosocial Behaviors: An fMRI Study. Front Syst Neurosci 2016; 10:60. [PMID: 27458349 PMCID: PMC4932112 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2016.00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Accepted: 06/23/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Efficient brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are in need of knowledge about the human brain and how it interacts, plays games, and socializes with other brains. A breakthrough can be achieved by revealing the microfoundations of sociality, an additional component of the utility function reflecting the value of contributing to group success derived from social identity. Building upon our previous behavioral work, we conduct a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments (N = 10 in the Pilot Study and N = 15 in the Main Study) to measure whether and how sociality alters the functional activation of and connectivity between specific systems in the brain. The overarching hypothesis of this study is that sociality, even in a minimal form, serves as a natural mechanism of sustainable cooperation by fostering interaction between brain regions associated with social cognition and those related to value calculation. We use group-based manipulations to induce varying levels of sociality and compare behavior in two social dilemmas: Prisoner's Dilemma and variations of Ultimatum Game. We find that activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus, a region previously associated with cognitive control and modulation of the valuation system, is correlated with activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to a greater degree when participants make economic decisions in a game with an acquaintance, high sociality condition, compared to a game with a random individual, low sociality condition. These initial results suggest a specific biological mechanism through which sociality facilitates cooperation, fairness and provision of public goods at the cost of individual gain. Future research should examine neural dynamics in the brain during the computation of utility in the context of strategic games that involve social interaction for a larger sample of subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mikhail Myagkov
- Department of Political Science, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
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