The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses
Would a transgressor be guiltier or less after receiving the victim's forgiving or blaming attitude? Everyday intuitions and empirical evidence are mixed in this regard, leaving how interpersonal attitudes shape the transgressor's reactive social emotions an open question. We combined a so...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-12-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921009046 |
| _version_ | 1819117295182544896 |
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| author | Xiaoxue Gao Hongbo Yu Lu Peng Xiaoliang Gong Yang Xiang Changjun Jiang Xiaolin Zhou |
| author_facet | Xiaoxue Gao Hongbo Yu Lu Peng Xiaoliang Gong Yang Xiang Changjun Jiang Xiaolin Zhou |
| author_sort | Xiaoxue Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Would a transgressor be guiltier or less after receiving the victim's forgiving or blaming attitude? Everyday intuitions and empirical evidence are mixed in this regard, leaving how interpersonal attitudes shape the transgressor's reactive social emotions an open question. We combined a social interactive game with multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data to address this question. Participants played an interactive game in an fMRI scanner where their incorrect responses could cause either high or low pain stimulation to an anonymous co-player. Following incorrect responses, participants were presented with the co-player's (i.e., the victim's) attitude towards the harm (Blame, Forgive, or Neutral). Behaviorally, the victim's attitude and the severity of harm interactively modulated the transgressor's social emotions, with expectation violation serving as a mediator. While unexpected forgiveness following severe harm amplified the participants’ guilt, unexpected blame following minor harm reduced the participants’ guilt and increased their anger. This role of expectation violation was supported by multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI, revealing a shared neural representation in ventral striatum in the processing of victim's attitude-induced guilt and anger. Moreover, we identified a neural re-appraisal process of guilt in the transgressor, with the involvement of area related to self-conscious processing (i.e., perigenual anterior cingulate cortex) before knowing the victim's attitude transiting to the involvement of other-regarding related area (i.e., temporoparietal junction) after knowing the victim's attitude. These findings uncover the neurocognitive bases underlying the transgressor's social emotional responses, and highlight the importance of the mutuality of social emotions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T05:30:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8183311f47c4c6381068c47ae92d7ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T05:30:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8183311f47c4c6381068c47ae92d7ea2022-12-21T18:37:27ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722021-12-01244118631The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responsesXiaoxue Gao0Hongbo Yu1Lu Peng2Xiaoliang Gong3Yang Xiang4Changjun Jiang5Xiaolin Zhou6Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Corresponding authors.Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-9660, USA; Corresponding authors.School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, ChinaKey Laboratory of Embedded System and Service Computing (Ministry of Education), Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, ChinaKey Laboratory of Embedded System and Service Computing (Ministry of Education), Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, ChinaKey Laboratory of Embedded System and Service Computing (Ministry of Education), Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, ChinaShanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Corresponding authors.Would a transgressor be guiltier or less after receiving the victim's forgiving or blaming attitude? Everyday intuitions and empirical evidence are mixed in this regard, leaving how interpersonal attitudes shape the transgressor's reactive social emotions an open question. We combined a social interactive game with multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data to address this question. Participants played an interactive game in an fMRI scanner where their incorrect responses could cause either high or low pain stimulation to an anonymous co-player. Following incorrect responses, participants were presented with the co-player's (i.e., the victim's) attitude towards the harm (Blame, Forgive, or Neutral). Behaviorally, the victim's attitude and the severity of harm interactively modulated the transgressor's social emotions, with expectation violation serving as a mediator. While unexpected forgiveness following severe harm amplified the participants’ guilt, unexpected blame following minor harm reduced the participants’ guilt and increased their anger. This role of expectation violation was supported by multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI, revealing a shared neural representation in ventral striatum in the processing of victim's attitude-induced guilt and anger. Moreover, we identified a neural re-appraisal process of guilt in the transgressor, with the involvement of area related to self-conscious processing (i.e., perigenual anterior cingulate cortex) before knowing the victim's attitude transiting to the involvement of other-regarding related area (i.e., temporoparietal junction) after knowing the victim's attitude. These findings uncover the neurocognitive bases underlying the transgressor's social emotional responses, and highlight the importance of the mutuality of social emotions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921009046GuiltAngerExpectation violationVentral striatumfMRI |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoxue Gao Hongbo Yu Lu Peng Xiaoliang Gong Yang Xiang Changjun Jiang Xiaolin Zhou The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses NeuroImage Guilt Anger Expectation violation Ventral striatum fMRI |
| title | The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses |
| title_full | The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses |
| title_fullStr | The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses |
| title_full_unstemmed | The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses |
| title_short | The mutuality of social emotions: How the victim's reactive attitude influences the transgressor's emotional responses |
| title_sort | mutuality of social emotions how the victim s reactive attitude influences the transgressor s emotional responses |
| topic | Guilt Anger Expectation violation Ventral striatum fMRI |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921009046 |
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