Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa
Abstract Background Anorexia nervosa (AN) patients are assumed to express high levels of guilt and envy. Ultimatum game (UG) is a standard behavioral task that focuses on interpersonal behavior when splitting a sum of money between two players. UG studies consistently demonstrate that people tend to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2018-12-01
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| Series: | BioPsychoSocial Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13030-018-0138-8 |
| _version_ | 1828859881235415040 |
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| author | Masanori Isobe Michiko Kawabata Ema Murao Tomomi Noda Noriko Matsukawa Ryosaku Kawada Teruhisa Uwatoko Toshiya Murai Shun’ichi Noma Hidehiko Takahashi |
| author_facet | Masanori Isobe Michiko Kawabata Ema Murao Tomomi Noda Noriko Matsukawa Ryosaku Kawada Teruhisa Uwatoko Toshiya Murai Shun’ichi Noma Hidehiko Takahashi |
| author_sort | Masanori Isobe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Anorexia nervosa (AN) patients are assumed to express high levels of guilt and envy. Ultimatum game (UG) is a standard behavioral task that focuses on interpersonal behavior when splitting a sum of money between two players. UG studies consistently demonstrate that people tend to decrease their inequity in outcomes, one explanation being that economically irrational decision-making may partly arise from the emotions guilt and envy. We assumed that AN patients would perform excessively fair in UG, reflecting high guilt and envy. Methods We utilized UG to investigate the characteristics of guilt and envy among 24 Japanese AN patients and 22 age-matched healthy controls (HC). The relation between the outcome of UG and decision strategy confirmed by post-experimental questionnaires was analyzed. Results As proposer, AN offered a larger amount to the responder compared with HC (p = 0.002) while, on the other hand, as responder, AN demanded much higher allocation to accept the offer compared with HC (p = 0.026). Regarding the strategy as responder, AN put more emphasis on fairness and less emphasis on monetary reward compared with HC (p = 0.046, p = 0.042, respectively). Conclusions The results indicate that Japanese AN patients demonstrate strong preference for fairness, with high guilt and high envy. High sensitivity to guilt and envy of AN patients can affect not only their own behavior concerning eating attitude and body shape, but also decision-making in interpersonal situations. Behavioral experimental settings among social situations will enable us to evaluate and help actual decision-making in the real life of patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T02:27:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3449342993a4d0990939c4d1eab2e24 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1751-0759 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T02:27:20Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BioPsychoSocial Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3449342993a4d0990939c4d1eab2e242022-12-22T00:02:36ZengBMCBioPsychoSocial Medicine1751-07592018-12-011211610.1186/s13030-018-0138-8Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosaMasanori Isobe0Michiko Kawabata1Ema Murao2Tomomi Noda3Noriko Matsukawa4Ryosaku Kawada5Teruhisa Uwatoko6Toshiya Murai7Shun’ichi Noma8Hidehiko Takahashi9Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto UniversityAbstract Background Anorexia nervosa (AN) patients are assumed to express high levels of guilt and envy. Ultimatum game (UG) is a standard behavioral task that focuses on interpersonal behavior when splitting a sum of money between two players. UG studies consistently demonstrate that people tend to decrease their inequity in outcomes, one explanation being that economically irrational decision-making may partly arise from the emotions guilt and envy. We assumed that AN patients would perform excessively fair in UG, reflecting high guilt and envy. Methods We utilized UG to investigate the characteristics of guilt and envy among 24 Japanese AN patients and 22 age-matched healthy controls (HC). The relation between the outcome of UG and decision strategy confirmed by post-experimental questionnaires was analyzed. Results As proposer, AN offered a larger amount to the responder compared with HC (p = 0.002) while, on the other hand, as responder, AN demanded much higher allocation to accept the offer compared with HC (p = 0.026). Regarding the strategy as responder, AN put more emphasis on fairness and less emphasis on monetary reward compared with HC (p = 0.046, p = 0.042, respectively). Conclusions The results indicate that Japanese AN patients demonstrate strong preference for fairness, with high guilt and high envy. High sensitivity to guilt and envy of AN patients can affect not only their own behavior concerning eating attitude and body shape, but also decision-making in interpersonal situations. Behavioral experimental settings among social situations will enable us to evaluate and help actual decision-making in the real life of patients.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13030-018-0138-8Anorexia nervosaUltimatum gameFairnessEnvyGuilt |
| spellingShingle | Masanori Isobe Michiko Kawabata Ema Murao Tomomi Noda Noriko Matsukawa Ryosaku Kawada Teruhisa Uwatoko Toshiya Murai Shun’ichi Noma Hidehiko Takahashi Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa BioPsychoSocial Medicine Anorexia nervosa Ultimatum game Fairness Envy Guilt |
| title | Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa |
| title_full | Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa |
| title_fullStr | Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa |
| title_short | Exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in Japanese women with anorexia nervosa |
| title_sort | exaggerated envy and guilt measured by economic games in japanese women with anorexia nervosa |
| topic | Anorexia nervosa Ultimatum game Fairness Envy Guilt |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13030-018-0138-8 |
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