Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers
We propose that self-affirmation may endow people more psychological resources to buffer against the negative influence of rejecting unfair offers in the classic ultimatum game (UG) and further lead to a stronger tendency to reject those offers. We test this possibility by conducting an event-relate...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2016-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01824/full |
| _version_ | 1819096561458610176 |
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| author | Ruolei Gu Jing Yang Yuanyuan Shi Yi Luo Yu L. L. Luo Huajian Cai |
| author_facet | Ruolei Gu Jing Yang Yuanyuan Shi Yi Luo Yu L. L. Luo Huajian Cai |
| author_sort | Ruolei Gu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We propose that self-affirmation may endow people more psychological resources to buffer against the negative influence of rejecting unfair offers in the classic ultimatum game (UG) and further lead to a stronger tendency to reject those offers. We test this possibility by conducting an event-related potential (ERP) study about the UG, with the ERP component P3 as an indirect indicator of psychological resources. Participants were randomly assigned to the affirmation or control condition and then completed the UG through electrophysiological recording. As expected, the behavioral data indicates that compared with unaffirmed ones, affirmed participants were more likely to reject unfair UG offers; the electrophysiological data indicates that compared to the unaffirmed, affirmed participants showed a greater P3 in response to the presentation of an offer. These findings suggest that psychological resources may play a role in rejecting others beyond the fairness concern, and additionally shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying self-affirmation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T00:01:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-473fb41cd70a40699588adc632d34fa1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T00:01:09Z |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-473fb41cd70a40699588adc632d34fa12022-12-21T18:45:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782016-11-01710.3389/fpsyg.2016.01824226354Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair OffersRuolei Gu0Jing Yang1Yuanyuan Shi2Yi Luo3Yu L. L. Luo4Huajian Cai5Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesHuaqiao UniversityThe Chinese University of Hong KongBeijing Normal UniversityInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesWe propose that self-affirmation may endow people more psychological resources to buffer against the negative influence of rejecting unfair offers in the classic ultimatum game (UG) and further lead to a stronger tendency to reject those offers. We test this possibility by conducting an event-related potential (ERP) study about the UG, with the ERP component P3 as an indirect indicator of psychological resources. Participants were randomly assigned to the affirmation or control condition and then completed the UG through electrophysiological recording. As expected, the behavioral data indicates that compared with unaffirmed ones, affirmed participants were more likely to reject unfair UG offers; the electrophysiological data indicates that compared to the unaffirmed, affirmed participants showed a greater P3 in response to the presentation of an offer. These findings suggest that psychological resources may play a role in rejecting others beyond the fairness concern, and additionally shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying self-affirmation.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01824/fullfairnesssocial decision-makingself-affirmationevent-related potential (ERP)P3social rejection |
| spellingShingle | Ruolei Gu Jing Yang Yuanyuan Shi Yi Luo Yu L. L. Luo Huajian Cai Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers Frontiers in Psychology fairness social decision-making self-affirmation event-related potential (ERP) P3 social rejection |
| title | Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers |
| title_full | Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers |
| title_fullStr | Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers |
| title_short | Be Strong Enough to Say No: Self-affirmation Increases Rejection to Unfair Offers |
| title_sort | be strong enough to say no self affirmation increases rejection to unfair offers |
| topic | fairness social decision-making self-affirmation event-related potential (ERP) P3 social rejection |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01824/full |
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