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Stallen M, Snijder LL, Gross J, Hilbert LP, De Dreu CKW. Partner choice and cooperation in social dilemmas can increase resource inequality. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6432. [PMID: 37833250 PMCID: PMC10575984 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42128-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cooperation is more likely when individuals can choose their interaction partner. However, partner choice may be detrimental in unequal societies, in which individuals differ in available resources and productivity, and thus in their attractiveness as interaction partners. Here we experimentally examine this conjecture in a repeated public goods game. Individuals (n = 336), participating in groups of eight participants, are assigned a high or low endowment and a high or low productivity factor (the value that their cooperation generates), creating four unique participant types. On each round, individuals are either assigned a partner (assigned partner condition) or paired based on their self-indicated preference for a partner type (partner choice condition). Results show that under partner choice, individuals who were assigned a high endowment and high productivity almost exclusively interact with each other, forcing other individuals into less valuable pairs. Consequently, pre-existing resource differences between individuals increase. These findings show how partner choice in social dilemmas can amplify resource inequality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirre Stallen
- Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Poverty Interventions, Center for Applied Research on Social Sciences and Law, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Luuk L Snijder
- Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Jörg Gross
- Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Leon P Hilbert
- Institute of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Carsten K W De Dreu
- Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Kirby LD, Qian W, Adiguzel Z, Afshar Jahanshahi A, Bakracheva M, Orejarena Ballestas MC, Cruz JFA, Dash A, Dias C, Ferreira MJ, Goosen JG, Kamble SV, Mihaylov NL, Pan F, Sofia R, Stallen M, Tamir M, van Dijk WW, Vittersø J, Smith CA. Appraisal and coping predict health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international approach. Int J Psychol 2021; 57:49-62. [PMID: 34189731 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people worldwide. We conducted an international survey (n = 3646) examining the degree to which people's appraisals and coping activities around the pandemic predicted their health and well-being. We obtained subsamples from 12 countries-Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, India, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Turkey and the United States. For each, we assessed appraisals and coping strategies as well as indicators of physical and mental health and well-being. Results indicated that, despite mean-level societal differences in outcomes, the pattern of appraisals and coping strategies predicting health and well-being was consistent across countries. Use of disengagement coping (particularly behavioural disengagement and self-isolation) was associated with relatively negative outcomes. In contrast, optimistic appraisals (particularly of high accommodation-focused coping potential and the ability to meet one's physical needs), use of problem-focused coping strategies (especially problem-solving) and accommodative coping strategies (especially positive reappraisal and self-encouragement) were associated with relatively positive outcomes. Our study highlights the critical importance of considering accommodative coping in stress and coping research. It also provides important information on how people have been dealing with the pandemic, the predictors of well-being under pandemic conditions and the generality of such relations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie D Kirby
- Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Weiqiang Qian
- Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | - Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi
- CENTRUM Catølica Graduate Business School (CCGBS), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), Lima, Peru
| | | | | | - José Fernando A Cruz
- Psychology Research Centre (CiPsi/UM)
- School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - Arobindu Dash
- Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany and International University of Business Agriculture & Technology (IUBAT), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Claudia Dias
- Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport, Porto, Portugal
| | - Maria J Ferreira
- HEI-Lab: Digital Human-Environment Interaction Lab, Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports, Lusófona University, Porto, Portugal
| | - Johanna G Goosen
- Leiden University, The Netherlands and Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | | | - Fada Pan
- Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Rui Sofia
- Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport, Porto, Portugal
| | - Mirre Stallen
- Leiden University, The Netherlands and Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Maya Tamir
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Wilco W van Dijk
- Leiden University, The Netherlands and Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Craig A Smith
- Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
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Huijsmans I, Ma I, Micheli L, Civai C, Stallen M, Sanfey AG. A scarcity mindset alters neural processing underlying consumer decision making. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:11699-11704. [PMID: 31123150 PMCID: PMC6575633 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818572116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Not having enough of what one needs has long been shown to have detrimental consequences for decision making. Recent work suggests that the experience of insufficient resources can create a "scarcity" mindset; increasing attention toward the scarce resource itself, but at the cost of attention for unrelated aspects. To investigate the effects of a scarcity mindset on consumer choice behavior, as well as its underlying neural mechanisms, we used an experimental manipulation to induce both a scarcity and an abundance mindset within participants and examined the effects of both mindsets on participants' willingness to pay for familiar food items while being scanned using fMRI. Results demonstrated that a scarcity mindset affects neural mechanisms related to consumer decision making. When in a scarcity mindset compared with an abundance mindset, participants had increased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a region often implicated in valuation processes. Moreover, again compared with abundance, a scarcity mindset decreased activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area well known for its role in goal-directed choice. This effect was predominant in the group of participants who experienced scarcity following abundance, suggesting that the effects of scarcity are largest when they are compared with previous situations when resources were plentiful. More broadly, these data suggest a potential neural locus for a scarcity mindset and demonstrate how these changes in brain activity might underlie goal-directed decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inge Huijsmans
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 HR, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ili Ma
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003
| | - Leticia Micheli
- Center for Neuroeconomics, Maastricht University, 6211 LM, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Claudia Civai
- Division of Psychology, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London SE1 0AA, United Kingdom
| | - Mirre Stallen
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Poverty Interventions, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, 1091 GH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Alan G Sanfey
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 HR, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Stallen M, Sanfey AG. The neuroscience of social conformity: implications for fundamental and applied research. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:337. [PMID: 26441509 PMCID: PMC4585332 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of closer ties between researchers and practitioners in the domain of behavior and behavioral change offers useful opportunities for better informing public policy campaigns via a deeper understanding of the psychological processes that operate in real-world decision-making. Here, we focus on the domain of social conformity, and suggest that the recent emergence of laboratory work using neuroscientific techniques to probe the brain basis of social influence can prove a useful source of data to better inform models of conformity. In particular, we argue that this work can have an important role to play in better understanding the specific mechanisms at work in social conformity, in both validating and extending current psychological theories of this process, and in assessing how behavioral change can take place as a result of exposure to the judgments of others. We conclude by outlining some promising future directions in this domain, and indicating how this research could potentially be usefully applied to policy issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirre Stallen
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alan G Sanfey
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen, Netherlands ; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour Nijmegen, Netherlands
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Sanfey AG, Stallen M, Chang LJ. Norms and expectations in social decision-making. Trends Cogn Sci 2014; 18:172-4. [PMID: 24582437 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2013] [Revised: 01/28/2014] [Accepted: 01/30/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent research has shown that stimulating right lateral prefrontal cortex (rLPFC) via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) changes social norm compliance in economic decisions, with different types of compliance affected in different ways. More broadly considering the norms involved in decision-making, and in particular expectations held by players, can help clarify the mechanisms underlying these results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan G Sanfey
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Postbus 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Mirre Stallen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University Nijmegen, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Luke J Chang
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Muenzinger D244, 345 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0345, USA
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Abstract
People often conform to the behavior of others with whom they identify. However, it is unclear what fundamental mechanisms underlie this type of conformity. Here, we investigate the processes mediating in-group conformity by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants completed a perceptual decision-making task while undergoing fMRI, during which they were exposed to the judgments of both in-group and out-group members. Our data suggest that conformity to the in-group is mediated by both positive affect as well as the cognitive capacity of perspective taking. Examining the processes that drive in-group conformity by utilizing a basic decision-making paradigm combined with neuroimaging methods provides important insights into the potential mechanisms of conformity. These results may provide an integral step in developing more effective campaigns using group conformity as a tool for behavioral change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirre Stallen
- Department of Marketing Management, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands ; Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
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Abstract
Cooperation is essential for the functioning of human societies. To better understand how cooperation both succeeds and fails, recent research in cognitive neuroscience has begun to explore novel paradigms to examine how cooperative mechanisms may be encoded in the brain. By combining functional neuroimaging techniques with simple but realistic tasks adapted from experimental economics, this approach allows for the discrimination and modeling of processes that are important in cooperative behavior. Here, we review evidence demonstrating that many of the processes underlying cooperation overlap with rather fundamental brain mechanisms, such as, for example, those involved in reward, punishment and learning. In addition, we review how social expectations induced by an interactive context and the experience of social emotions may influence cooperation and its associated underlying neural circuitry, and we describe factors that appear important for generating cooperation, such as the provision of incentives. These findings illustrate how cognitive neuroscience can contribute to the development of more accurate, brain-based, models of cooperative decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirre Stallen
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Alan G. Sanfey
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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Abstract
People often conform to others with whom they associate. Surprisingly, however, little is known about the possible hormonal mechanisms that may underlie in-group conformity. Here, we examined whether conformity toward one’s in-group is altered by oxytocin, a neuropeptide often implicated in social behavior. After administration of either oxytocin or a placebo, participants were asked to provide attractiveness ratings of unfamiliar visual stimuli. While viewing each stimulus, participants were shown ratings of that stimulus provided by both in-group and out-group members. Results demonstrated that on trials in which the ratings of the in-group and out-group were incongruent, the ratings of participants given oxytocin conformed to the ratings of their in-group but not of their out-group. Participants given a placebo did not show this in-group bias. These findings indicate that administration of oxytocin can influence subjective preferences, and they support the view that oxytocin’s effects on social behavior are context dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirre Stallen
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen
| | | | - Shaul Shalvi
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
| | - Ale Smidts
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam
| | - Alan G. Sanfey
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen
- Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen
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Fahrenfort JJ, van Winden F, Pelloux B, Stallen M, Ridderinkhof KR. Neural correlates of dynamically evolving interpersonal ties predict prosocial behavior. Front Neurosci 2012; 6:28. [PMID: 22403524 PMCID: PMC3293149 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2011] [Accepted: 02/10/2012] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a growing interest for the determinants of human choice behavior in social settings. Upon initial contact, investment choices in social settings can be inherently risky, as the degree to which the other person will reciprocate is unknown. Nevertheless, people have been shown to exhibit prosocial behavior even in one-shot laboratory settings where all interaction has been taken away. A logical step has been to link such behavior to trait empathy-related neurobiological networks. However, as a social interaction unfolds, the degree of uncertainty with respect to the expected payoff of choice behavior may change as a function of the interaction. Here we attempt to capture this factor. We show that the interpersonal tie one develops with another person during interaction – rather than trait empathy – motivates investment in a public good that is shared with an anonymous interaction partner. We examined how individual differences in trait empathy and interpersonal ties modulate neural responses to imposed monetary sharing. After, but not before interaction in a public good game, sharing prompted activation of neural systems associated with reward (striatum), empathy (anterior insular cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) as well as altruism, and social significance [posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS)]. Although these activations could be linked to both empathy and interpersonal ties, only tie-related pSTS activation predicted prosocial behavior during subsequent interaction, suggesting a neural substrate for keeping track of social relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes J Fahrenfort
- Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Beer JS, Stallen M, Lombardo MV, Gonsalkorale K, Cunningham WA, Sherman JW. The Quadruple Process model approach to examining the neural underpinnings of prejudice. Neuroimage 2008; 43:775-83. [PMID: 18809502 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.08.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2007] [Revised: 06/30/2008] [Accepted: 08/20/2008] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to investigate the systems underlying the automatic and controlled processes that support social attitudes, we conducted an fMRI study that combined an implicit measure of race attitudes with the Quadruple Process model (Quad model). A number of previous neural investigations have adopted the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine the automatic processes that contribute to social attitudes. Application of the Quad model builds on this previous research by permitting measures of distinct automatic and controlled processes that contribute to performance on the IAT. The present research found that prejudiced attitudes of ingroup favoritism were associated with amygdala, medial and right lateral orbitofrontal cortex. In contrast, prejudiced attitudes of outgroup negativity were associated with caudate and left lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Frontal regions found in previous neural research on the IAT, such as anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and operculum were associated with detecting appropriate responses in situations in which they conflict with automatic associations. Insula activity was associated with attitudes towards ingroup and outgroup members, as well as detecting appropriate behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer S Beer
- Department of Psychology, #A8000 University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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van Winden F, Stallen M, Ridderinkhof KR. On the nature, modeling, and neural bases of social ties. Adv Health Econ Health Serv Res 2008; 20:125-159. [PMID: 19552307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This chapter addresses the nature, formalization, and neural bases of (affective) social ties and discusses the relevance of ties for health economics. A social tie is defined as an affective weight attached by an individual to the well-being of another individual ('utility interdependence'). Ties can be positive or negative, and symmetric or asymmetric between individuals. Characteristic of a social tie, as conceived of here, is that it develops over time under the influence of interaction, in contrast with a trait like altruism. Moreover, a tie is not related to strategic behavior such as reputation formation but seen as generated by affective responses. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH A formalization is presented together with some supportive evidence from behavioral experiments. This is followed by a discussion of related psychological constructs and the presentation of suggestive existing neural findings. To help prepare the grounds for a model-based neural analysis some speculations on the neural networks involved are provided, together with suggestions for future research. FINDINGS Social ties are not only found to be important from an economic viewpoint, it is also shown that they can be modeled and related to neural substrates. ORIGINALITY/VALUE OF THE CHAPTER By providing an overview of the economic research on social ties and connecting it with the broader behavioral and neuroeconomics literature, the chapter may contribute to the development of a neuroeconomics of social ties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frans van Winden
- CREED, Department of Economics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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