Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game
Research from cultural and social psychology has identified a central role of self-construal, or the way one views themselves in relation to others, in social cognition. Accordingly, it is plausible that self-construal plays an instrumental role in important aspects of decision-making relating to fa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00994/full |
| _version_ | 1818008631547789312 |
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| author | Nic Flinkenflogel Tuong-Van Vu Marlieke T. R. van Kesteren Lydia Krabbendam |
| author_facet | Nic Flinkenflogel Tuong-Van Vu Marlieke T. R. van Kesteren Lydia Krabbendam |
| author_sort | Nic Flinkenflogel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research from cultural and social psychology has identified a central role of self-construal, or the way one views themselves in relation to others, in social cognition. Accordingly, it is plausible that self-construal plays an instrumental role in important aspects of decision-making relating to fairness considerations. Prior research has shown that priming methodology is a useful tool to experimentally isolate the effect of self-construal on social decision-making processes. In the current study we investigated the neural effects of self-construal priming on fairness considerations, using an Ultimatum Game setup (N = 97). Based on previous findings, we predicted an interaction between the self-construal prime and gender on Ultimatum Game behavior; males primed with interdependence would reject the offer relatively more compared to independence, and vice versa for females. As previous neuro-imaging research has established an instrumental role of the anterior insula (AI) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in the rejection of unfair offers, we expected higher rejection rates to be mirrored by increased activity in these regions. However, the analyses did not confirm these predictions. As further inspection of the data revealed a habituation effect, we performed a follow-up analysis on the first block (N = 59). This subsequent analysis revealed that priming interdependence resulted in reduced AI activity compared to priming independence, although no behavioral differences were observed. The difference was theorized to result from motivations as conflict avoidance and harmony maintenance, commonly associated with interdependence. Furthermore, the analysis revealed greater vmPFC activity for females compared to males for rejected offers, although this effect was not robust when controlled for trait self-construal. These follow-up analyses suggest that self-construal priming influences insula activity, as well as implicating an underlying role of trait self-construal in observed gender differences in vmPFC activity relating to fairness considerations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T05:31:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-40d853457c154e98a2c6d715fec48c4f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T05:31:45Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-40d853457c154e98a2c6d715fec48c4f2022-12-22T02:09:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2019-09-011310.3389/fnins.2019.00994454804Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum GameNic Flinkenflogel0Tuong-Van Vu1Marlieke T. R. van Kesteren2Lydia Krabbendam3Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Education Sciences, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Institute for Brain and Behavior, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsDepartment of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsResearch from cultural and social psychology has identified a central role of self-construal, or the way one views themselves in relation to others, in social cognition. Accordingly, it is plausible that self-construal plays an instrumental role in important aspects of decision-making relating to fairness considerations. Prior research has shown that priming methodology is a useful tool to experimentally isolate the effect of self-construal on social decision-making processes. In the current study we investigated the neural effects of self-construal priming on fairness considerations, using an Ultimatum Game setup (N = 97). Based on previous findings, we predicted an interaction between the self-construal prime and gender on Ultimatum Game behavior; males primed with interdependence would reject the offer relatively more compared to independence, and vice versa for females. As previous neuro-imaging research has established an instrumental role of the anterior insula (AI) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in the rejection of unfair offers, we expected higher rejection rates to be mirrored by increased activity in these regions. However, the analyses did not confirm these predictions. As further inspection of the data revealed a habituation effect, we performed a follow-up analysis on the first block (N = 59). This subsequent analysis revealed that priming interdependence resulted in reduced AI activity compared to priming independence, although no behavioral differences were observed. The difference was theorized to result from motivations as conflict avoidance and harmony maintenance, commonly associated with interdependence. Furthermore, the analysis revealed greater vmPFC activity for females compared to males for rejected offers, although this effect was not robust when controlled for trait self-construal. These follow-up analyses suggest that self-construal priming influences insula activity, as well as implicating an underlying role of trait self-construal in observed gender differences in vmPFC activity relating to fairness considerations.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00994/fullfMRIself-construalprimingdecision-makingultimatum game |
| spellingShingle | Nic Flinkenflogel Tuong-Van Vu Marlieke T. R. van Kesteren Lydia Krabbendam Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game Frontiers in Neuroscience fMRI self-construal priming decision-making ultimatum game |
| title | Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game |
| title_full | Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game |
| title_fullStr | Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game |
| title_short | Neural Correlates of Self-Construal Priming in the Ultimatum Game |
| title_sort | neural correlates of self construal priming in the ultimatum game |
| topic | fMRI self-construal priming decision-making ultimatum game |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00994/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicflinkenflogel neuralcorrelatesofselfconstrualprimingintheultimatumgame AT tuongvanvu neuralcorrelatesofselfconstrualprimingintheultimatumgame AT marlieketrvankesteren neuralcorrelatesofselfconstrualprimingintheultimatumgame AT lydiakrabbendam neuralcorrelatesofselfconstrualprimingintheultimatumgame |