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Mitiureva DG, Terlichenko EO, Zubko VM, Kabanova PI, Abrosimova VD, Skripkina SM, Krivchenkova EV, Verkholaz DM, Borodkina AS, Komarova AV, Kiselnikov AA. Neural mechanisms of altruistic decision-making: EEG functional connectivity network analysis. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024:10.3758/s13415-024-01214-8. [PMID: 39198301 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01214-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/02/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024]
Abstract
Altruism is an enigmatic form of prosocial behavior, characterized by diverse motivations and significant interindividual differences. Studying neural mechanisms of altruism is crucial to identify objective markers of pro- and antisocial tendencies in behavior. This study was designed to delve into the mechanisms of altruism by analyzing EEG-based functional connectivity patterns within the framework of the network approach. To experimentally induce a situation of altruistic decision-making, we employed the Pain versus Gain (PvsG) task, which implies making choices concerning financial self-benefit and pain of the other. Our results reveal that the behavioral measure of altruism in the experiment correlated with emotional empathy, which is in line with the "empathy-altruism" hypothesis. Applying the network approach to EEG functional connectivity analysis, we discovered that the very process of decision-making in the PvsG is characterized by the synchronous activity of structures in the right hemisphere, which are involved in empathy for pain. The prosociality of decisions was reflected in functional connectivity between the rostral ACC and orbital IFG in the left hemisphere and the overall network centrality of the caudal ACC. This finding additionally points to the distinct functional roles of the ACC subregions in altruistic decision-making. The proposed neural mechanisms of altruism can further be used to identify neurophysiological markers of prosociality in behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dina G Mitiureva
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS, 5A Butlerova Street, 117485, Moscow, Russia.
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Cao S, Fu D, Yang X, Wermter S, Liu X, Wu H. Pain recognition and pain empathy from a human-centered AI perspective. iScience 2024; 27:110570. [PMID: 39211548 PMCID: PMC11357883 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Sensory and emotional experiences are essential for mental and physical well-being, especially within the realm of psychiatry. This article highlights recent advances in cognitive neuroscience, emphasizing the significance of pain recognition and empathic artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. We provide an overview of the recent development process in computational pain recognition and cognitive neuroscience regarding the mechanisms of pain and empathy. Through a comprehensive discussion, the article delves into critical questions such as the methodologies for AI in recognizing pain from diverse sources of information, the necessity for AI to exhibit empathic responses, and the associated advantages and obstacles linked with the development of empathic AI. Moreover, insights into the prospects and challenges are emphasized in relation to fostering artificial empathy. By delineating potential pathways for future research, the article aims to contribute to developing effective assistants equipped with empathic capabilities, thereby introducing safe and meaningful interactions between humans and AI, particularly in the context of mental health and psychiatry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Cao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Di Fu
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Xu Yang
- State Key Laboratory for Management and Control of Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Stefan Wermter
- Department of Informatics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Xun Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Haiyan Wu
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau
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Vieira JB, Olsson A. The convergence between defence and care in mammals. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:714-725. [PMID: 38749809 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 08/09/2024]
Abstract
The motivations to protect oneself and others have often been seen as conflicting. Here, we discuss recent evidence that self-defensive mechanisms may in fact be recruited to enable the helping of others. In some instances, the defensive response to a threat may even be more decisive in promoting helping than the response to a conspecific's distress (as predicted by empathy-altruism models). In light of this evidence, we propose that neural mechanisms implicated in self-defence may have been repurposed through evolution to enable the protection of others, and that defence and care may be convergent rather than conflicting functions. Finally, we present and discuss a working model of the shared brain mechanisms implicated in defence of both self and others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana B Vieira
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Andreas Olsson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
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Saulin A, Ma Y, Hein G. Empathy incites a stable prosocial decision bias. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae272. [PMID: 38970361 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Empathy toward suffering individuals serves as potent driver for prosocial behavior. However, it remains unclear whether prosociality induced by empathy for another person's pain persists once that person's suffering diminishes. To test this, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a binary social decision task that involved allocation of points to themselves and another person. In block one, participants completed the task after witnessing frequent painful stimulation of the other person, and in block two, after observing low frequency of painful stimulation. Drift-diffusion modeling revealed an increased initial bias toward making prosocial decisions in the first block compared with baseline that persisted in the second block. These results were replicated in an independent behavioral study. An additional control study showed that this effect may be specific to empathy as stability was not evident when prosocial decisions were driven by a social norm such as reciprocity. Increased neural activation in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was linked to empathic concern after witnessing frequent pain and to a general prosocial decision bias after witnessing rare pain. Altogether, our findings show that empathy for pain elicits a stable inclination toward making prosocial decisions even as their suffering diminishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Saulin
- Department of Psychiatry, Center of Mental Health, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Yina Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning; IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Xinjiekouwai St, Haidan District, Beijing 100875, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Yike Rd, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Grit Hein
- Department of Psychiatry, Center of Mental Health, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, 97080 Würzburg, Germany
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Hudson SKTJ, Uenal F. The connections between personality, ideology and (counter-)empathic emotions depend on the target. J Pers 2024; 92:883-906. [PMID: 37401134 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Examine the group-specific connections between personality, ideology, and the moral emotions of empathy and schadenfreude. BACKGROUND Empathy and schadenfreude are emotions that often lead to moral prosocial or spiteful harmful behaviors respectively. An outstanding question is what motivates feelings of empathy and schadenfreude towards people from different groups. Here we examine two prominent motivators of emotions: personality traits and ideology. Previous work has found that people's ideological orientations towards respecting traditionalism (RWA) and preferences about group-based hierarchy (SDO) can impact intergroup emotions. Further, personality traits of low agreeableness, low openness, and high conscientiousness uniquely engender SDO and RWA. METHOD In the research presented here (Study 1 n = 492; Study 2 n = 786), we examine the relationships between personality traits, ideology, and emotions for groups that are perceived to be dangerous and competitive. We hypothesize that SDO and RWA will relate to reduced empathy and increased schadenfreude but towards unique groups. SDO will relate to reduced empathy and increased schadenfreude towards competitive, low-status groups while RWA will relate to reduced empathy and increased schadenfreude towards threatening groups. We further extend past work by investigating left-wing authoritarianism as well. RESULTS We find broad support for our expectation that the relationships between personality and emotions, as well as ideology and emotions, depend on the specific group in question. CONCLUSIONS These results help expand the dual process motivational model of prejudice and suggest the importance of specifying a target group when assessing relationships between personality, ideology, and emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sa-Kiera Tiarra Jolynn Hudson
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Fatih Uenal
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Ioumpa K, Gallo S, Keysers C, Gazzola V. Neural mechanisms of costly helping in the general population and mirror-pain synesthetes. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11617. [PMID: 38773183 PMCID: PMC11109206 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62422-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
It has been argued that experiencing the pain of others motivates helping. Here, we investigate the contribution of somatic feelings while witnessing the pain of others onto costly helping decisions, by contrasting the choices and brain activity of participants that report feeling somatic feelings (self-reported mirror-pain synesthetes) against those that do not. Participants in fMRI witnessed a confederate receiving pain stimulations whose intensity they could reduce by donating money. The pain intensity could be inferred either from the facial expressions of the confederate in pain (Face condition) or from the kinematics of the pain-receiving hand (Hand condition). Our results show that self-reported mirror-pain synesthetes increase their donation more steeply, as the intensity of the observed pain increases, and their somatosensory brain activity (SII and the adjacent IPL) was more tightly associated with donation in the Hand condition. For all participants, activation in insula, SII, TPJ, pSTS, amygdala and MCC correlated with the trial by trial donation made in the Face condition, while SI and MTG activation was correlated with the donation in the Hand condition. These results further inform us about the role of somatic feelings while witnessing the pain of others in situations of costly helping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalliopi Ioumpa
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Selene Gallo
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Keysers
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Lloyd EP, Summers KM, Gunderson CA, Weesner RE, Ten Brinke L, Hugenberg K, McConnell AR. Denver pain authenticity stimulus set (D-PASS). Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:2992-3008. [PMID: 37993672 PMCID: PMC11109019 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02283-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
We introduce the Denver Pain Authenticity Stimulus Set (D-PASS), a free resource containing 315 videos of 105 unique individuals expressing authentic and posed pain. All expressers were recorded displaying one authentic (105; pain was elicited via a pressure algometer) and two posed (210) expressions of pain (one posed expression recorded before [posed-unrehearsed] and one recorded after [posed-rehearsed] the authentic pain expression). In addition to authentic and posed pain videos, the database includes an accompanying codebook including metrics assessed at the expresser and video levels (e.g., Facial Action Coding System metrics for each video controlling for neutral images of the expresser), expressers' pain threshold and pain tolerance values, averaged pain detection performance by naïve perceivers who viewed the videos (e.g., accuracy, response bias), neutral images of each expresser, and face characteristic rating data for neutral images of each expresser (e.g., attractiveness, trustworthiness). The stimuli and accompanying codebook can be accessed for academic research purposes from https://digitalcommons.du.edu/lsdl_dpass/1/ . The relatively large number of stimuli allow for consideration of expresser-level variability in analyses and enable more advanced statistical approaches (e.g., signal detection analyses). Furthermore, the large number of Black (n = 41) and White (n = 56) expressers permits investigations into the role of race in pain expression, perception, and authenticity detection. Finally, the accompanying codebook may provide pilot data for novel investigations in the intergroup or pain sciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Paige Lloyd
- Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 South Race Street, Denver, CO, 80210, USA.
| | - Kevin M Summers
- Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 South Race Street, Denver, CO, 80210, USA
| | - Christopher A Gunderson
- Department of Psychology, University of Denver, 2155 South Race Street, Denver, CO, 80210, USA
| | - Rachael E Weesner
- Psychiatry Residency Program, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Leanne Ten Brinke
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Kelowna, Canada
| | - Kurt Hugenberg
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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Bas LM, Roberts ID, Hutcherson C, Tusche A. A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.10.02.560256. [PMID: 37873074 PMCID: PMC10592872 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.02.560256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
People selectively help others based on perceptions of their merit or need. Here, we develop a neurocomputational account of how these social perceptions translate into social choice. Using a novel fMRI social perception task, we show that both merit and need perceptions recruited the brain's social inference network. A behavioral computational model identified two non-exclusive mechanisms underlying variance in social perceptions: a consistent tendency to perceive others as meritorious/needy (bias) and a propensity to sample and integrate normative evidence distinguishing high from low merit/need in other people (sensitivity). Variance in people's merit (but not need) bias and sensitivity independently predicted distinct aspects of altruism in a social choice task completed months later. An individual's merit bias predicted context-independent variance in people's overall other-regard during altruistic choice, biasing people towards prosocial actions. An individual's merit sensitivity predicted context-sensitive discrimination in generosity towards high and low merit recipients by influencing other-regard and self-regard during altruistic decision-making. This context-sensitive perception-action link was associated with activation in the right temporoparietal junction. Together, these findings point towards stable, biologically based individual differences in perceptual processes related to abstract social concepts like merit, and suggest that these differences may have important behavioral implications for an individual's tendency toward favoritism or discrimination in social settings.
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Ocampo J, Keltner D. Dispositional compassion shifts social preferences in systematic ways. J Pers 2023. [PMID: 38111088 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION How people attach value to the outcomes of self and other-social preferences-is central to social behavior. Recently, how dispositional and state emotion shape such social preferences has received researchers' attention. METHOD The present investigation asked whether and to what extent dispositional and state compassion predict shifts in social preferences across 4 samples: two correlational samples (final ns 153 & 368, study 1a and 1b) and two experimental samples (final ns: 430 & 530, studies 2 and 3). RESULTS In keeping with recent accounts of compassion, dispositional compassion predicted general preference for equality, expressed as dispreference for both monetary advantage over another (interaction βs = -0.36, -0.33, -0.25, -0.22; all p < 0.001) and monetary disadvantage relative to others (βs: 0.26, 0.27, 0.28, 0.17; all p < 0.01; positive coefficients imply dispreference). This dispositional effect persisted when controlling for prosociality, positivity, agreeableness, and respectfulness. Furthermore, these dispositional compassion effects were relatively unchanged by experimental emotion inductions in studies 3 and 4. The experimental inductions of state compassion and state pride showed little evidence of systematic effects on social preferences relative to each other or a neutral condition. DISCUSSION Discussion focused on individual differences in emotion and social preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Ocampo
- Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Dacher Keltner
- Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
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Górska G, Berkovich-Ohana A, Klimecki O, Trautwein FM. Situational assessment of empathy and compassion: Predicting prosociality using a video-based task. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289465. [PMID: 38060491 PMCID: PMC10703325 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Classical psychometric approaches in social science measure individuals' tendency to experience empathy and compassion. Using abstract questionnaire items, they place high demand on subjects' capacity to introspect, memorize, and generalize the corresponding emotions. We employed a Socio-affective Video Task (SoVT)-an alternative approach that measures situationally elicited emotions-and assessed its predictive power over prosocial behavior against classical questionnaires in a sample of Israeli university students. We characterized the conceptual embedding of the SoVT concerning other measures of prosocial affect and cognition, and tested group identification as an alternative precursor to prosocial behavior. Eighty participants rated their reactions to videos that presented the suffering of others or everyday scenes on scales of negative affect (providing a proxy for elicited empathy) and compassion. We then administered classical questionnaires that target empathy (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and compassion (the Compassionate Love Scale), as well as measures of hypothetical and real-life helping and prosocial attitudes-including conflict attitudes and intergroup bias. While compassion ratings in the SoVT failed to predict prosociality more accurately than classical questionnaires, the SoVT empathy index succeeded and correlated strongly with other precursors of prosociality. These results support video-based situational assessment as an implicit and robust alternative in the measurement of empathy-related processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Górska
- National Information Processing Institute, Warsaw, Poland
- The Robert Zajonc Institute for Social Studies, Warsaw University
| | - Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
- Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Learning and Instructional Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Counseling and Human Development, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Olga Klimecki
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Fynn-Mathis Trautwein
- Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
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Feng C, Tian X, Luo YJ. Neurocomputational Substrates Underlying the Effect of Identifiability on Third-Party Punishment. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8018-8031. [PMID: 37752000 PMCID: PMC10669760 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0460-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The identifiable target effect refers to the preference for helping identified victims and punishing identifiable perpetrators compared with equivalent but unidentifiable counterparts. The identifiable target effect is often attributed to the heightened moral emotions evoked by identified targets. However, the specific neurocognitive processes that mediate and/or modulate this effect remain largely unknown. Here, we combined a third-party punishment game with brain imaging and computational modeling to unravel the neurocomputational underpinnings of the identifiable transgressor effect. Human participants (males and females) acted as bystanders and punished identified or anonymous wrongdoers. Participants were more punitive toward identified wrongdoers than anonymous wrongdoers because they took a vicarious perspective of victims and adopted lower reference points of inequity (i.e., more stringent norms) in the identified context than in the unidentified context. Accordingly, there were larger activity of the ventral anterior insula, more distinct multivariate neural patterns in the dorsal anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and lower strength between ventral anterior insula and dorsolateral PFC and between dorsal anterior insula and ventral striatum connectivity in response to identified transgressors than anonymous transgressors. These findings implicate the interplay of expectancy violations, emotions, and self-interest in the identifiability effect. Last, individual differences in the identifiability effect were associated with empathic concern/social dominance orientation, activity in the precuneus/cuneus and temporo-parietal junction, and intrinsic functional connectivity of the dorsolateral PFC. Together, our work is the first to uncover the neurocomputational processes mediating identifiable transgressor effect and to characterize psychophysiological profiles modulating the effect.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The identifiable target effect, more help to identified victims or stronger punishment to identifiable perpetrators, is common in daily life. We examined the neurocomputational mechanisms mediating/modulating the identifiability effect on third-party punishment by bridging literature from economics and cognitive neuroscience. Our findings reveal that identifiable transgressor effect is mediated by lower reference points of inequity (i.e., more stringent norms), which might be associated with a stronger involvement of the emotion processes and a weaker engagement of the analytic/deliberate processes. Furthermore, personality traits, altered brain activity, and intrinsic functional connectivity contribute to the individual variance in the identifiability effect. Overall, our study advances the understanding of the identifiability effect by shedding light on its component processes and modulating factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunliang Feng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Xia Tian
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Yue-Jia Luo
- The State Key Lab of Cognitive and Learning, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- Institute for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Qingdao, 266113, China
- School of Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610500, China
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Wu S, Cai S, Li Y, Xiong G, Zhang H. Increased neural activity of right temporo-parietal junction causes different effect on altruism in situations of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity. Brain Cogn 2023; 171:106061. [PMID: 37451074 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2023.106061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Altruism is defined as the performance of "costly acts that confer economic benefits on other individuals", which is one of the major puzzles in the behavioural sciences today. Altruistic behaviour not only facilitates interpersonal adaptation and harmony but also enhances social welfare and social responsibility. The right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) has been proposed as playing a key role in guiding human altruistic behaviour, but its precise functional contribution to altruistic behaviour in situations of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to modulate the activation of the rTPJ through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in order to clarify the causal role of the rTPJ in altruistic behaviour in situations of advantageous and disadvantageous inequity. A total of 106 participants were randomly assigned to one of three stimulation conditions: anodal tDCS stimulation on the rTPJ; sham tDCS stimulation on the rTPJ and anodal tDCS stimulation on the primary visual cortex (VC)as the control group, and. After 20 min of stimulation, participants undertook a modified dictator game that measured altruistic behaviour. Mixed-effect logistic regressions were applied to statistical analyses in this study. The results indicated that anodal tDCS over the rTPJ increased participants' altruistic tendency by increasing their tendency to choose altruistic options in trials with higher cost, as well as their tendency to behave altruistically in situations of advantageous but not disadvantageous inequity. These results suggested that increased neural activity of the rTPJ leads to different impacts on altruism in these two different inequity situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shijing Wu
- School of Economics and Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Key Lab for Behavioral Economic Science & Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Shenggang Cai
- School of Economics and Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Key Lab for Behavioral Economic Science & Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Yingxiao Li
- School of Economics and Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Key Lab for Behavioral Economic Science & Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Guanxing Xiong
- School of Economics and Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Key Lab for Behavioral Economic Science & Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Hanqi Zhang
- School of Economics and Management, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Key Lab for Behavioral Economic Science & Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
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13
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Arshad F, Zegarra-Valdivia JA, Prioleau C, Valcour V, Miller BL. Impact of respect, equity, and leadership in brain health. Front Neurol 2023; 14:1198882. [PMID: 37614974 PMCID: PMC10442505 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1198882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Respect is a feeling of admiration for someone. It forms one of the core values of the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), which strives to protect the world's aging populations from threats to brain health. These values guide us as we advocate for reducing the global impact of dementia. By taking a values-based approach to brain health, we can drive global changes for millions of people. Respect fortifies gratitude and embraces diversity. Philosophical discussions of the ideas support the assertion that respect is crucial in everyday conversations and actions as well as in personal, social, political, and moral spheres. No one can become a leader unless they genuinely respect and care about the success of each team member. Diversity, equity, and inclusivity form the fundamental cornerstones of respect. Understanding this core value of respect will ensure altruistic behavior among the leaders that may help mitigate racism, cultural insults, gender discrimination, stigmatization, religious hatred, and, worst of all, poor leadership abilities that have been the disconcerting examples of disrespect in recent years. We present the underlying neurobiology of respect and its impact on equity and leadership.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faheem Arshad
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, India
| | - Jonathan Adrian Zegarra-Valdivia
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Department of Human Medicine, Universidad Señor de Sipán, Chiclayo, Peru
| | - Caroline Prioleau
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Victor Valcour
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Bruce L. Miller
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
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14
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Zhang D, Zhang S, Lei Z, Li Y, Li X, Gu R. Why people engage in corrupt collaboration: an observation at the multi-brain level. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:8465-8476. [PMID: 37083271 PMCID: PMC10786094 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that corrupt collaboration (i.e. acquiring private benefits with joint immoral acts) represents a dilemma between the honesty and reciprocity norms. In this study, we asked pairs of participants (labeled as A and B) to individually toss a coin and report their outcomes; their collective benefit could be maximized by dishonestly reporting (a corrupt behavior). As expected, the likelihood of corrupt behavior was high; this probability was negatively correlated with player A's moral judgment ability but positively correlated with player B's empathic concern (EC). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy data revealed that the brain-to-brain synchronization in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with fewer corrupt behaviors, and that it mediated the relationship between player A's moral judgment ability and corrupt collaboration. Meanwhile, the right temporal-parietal junction synchronization was associated with more corrupt behaviors, and that it mediated the relationship between player B's EC and corrupt collaboration. The roles of these 2 regions are interpreted according to the influence of the honesty and reciprocity norms on corrupt collaboration. In our opinion, these findings provide insight into the underlying mechanisms and modulating factors of corrupt collaboration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dandan Zhang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
- China Center for Behavioral Economics and Finance & School of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Shen Zhang
- School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Zhen Lei
- China Center for Behavioral Economics and Finance & School of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
| | - Yiwei Li
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
| | - Xianchun Li
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Ruolei Gu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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15
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Gould RK, Merrylees E, Hackenburg D, Marquina T. "My place in the grand scheme of things": perspective from nature and sustainability science. SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE 2023; 18:1-17. [PMID: 37363304 PMCID: PMC10242601 DOI: 10.1007/s11625-023-01339-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
A burgeoning and diverse field of study investigates the many aspects of human-nature relationships-what they mean for ecosystems, for human well-being, and for transformations toward sustainability. We explore an emerging concept in human-nature relationship research: perspective from nature, defined as the idea that nature helps people gain perspective on where they fit in the world and what is important (what some people call a "reality check"); in most cases, this involves a shift of attention beyond themselves and their particulars. We analyze responses to open-ended questions in a survey (n = 3204) focused on how residents of Vermont, USA, experienced nature during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We identify 481 instances and six aspects of perspective from nature; ouranalysis deepens existing understandings of the concept. We connect perspective from nature to five emerging areas of study in global change research: the multiple values of nature, nature's mental health benefits, mindfulness, humility, and empathy. Perspective, this work suggests, is a construct that crosses multiple fields of study within human-nature relationships and offers potentially important insight into the role experience with nature may play in transitions toward sustainability. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-023-01339-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachelle K. Gould
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
- Environmental Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT USA
- University of Vermont Gund Institute of the Environment, Burlington, VT USA
| | - Eliza Merrylees
- Environmental Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT USA
| | - Diana Hackenburg
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
- University of Vermont Gund Institute of the Environment, Burlington, VT USA
| | - Tatiana Marquina
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
- University of Vermont Gund Institute of the Environment, Burlington, VT USA
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16
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Huang Y, Hu P, Deng H. Empathic concern induction modulates behavioral ratings and neural responses to harm-related moral judgment: An event-related potentials study. Behav Brain Res 2023; 446:114397. [PMID: 36966938 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Although empathic concern is critical in harm-related moral judgment, the temporal dynamics underlying the impact of empathic concern on moral judgment remain unclear. This study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate how empathic concern induction shaped the way individuals perceive harmful/helpful behaviors. Behavioral results showed that participants assigned more blame to harmful behaviors in the empathic concern priming condition compared to those in the control condition. ERP results showed that helpful behaviors elicited larger N1 than did harmful behaviors. Additionally, harmful behaviors in the empathic concern priming condition elicited more negative N2 than did harmful behaviors in the control condition. Moreover, harmful behaviors elicited larger late positive potential (LPP) than did helpful behaviors in the control condition. These findings suggest that (1) empathic concern induction might increase moral sensitivity about harm-related norms; (2) participants independent of the empathic concern manipulation can distinguish between harmful behaviors and helpful behaviors similarly, as indicated by the early ERP component (N1); (3) empathic concern especially influences the intermediate (N2) and later (LPP) ERP components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunyun Huang
- School of Education Science, Ludong University, Yantai, China.
| | - Ping Hu
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Huan Deng
- School of Education, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, China
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17
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Rhoads SA, Vekaria KM, O'Connell K, Elizabeth HS, Rand DG, Kozak Williams MN, Marsh AA. Unselfish traits and social decision-making patterns characterize six populations of real-world extraordinary altruists. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1807. [PMID: 37002205 PMCID: PMC10066349 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37283-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Acts of extraordinary, costly altruism, in which significant risks or costs are assumed to benefit strangers, have long represented a motivational puzzle. But the features that consistently distinguish individuals who engage in such acts have not been identified. We assess six groups of real-world extraordinary altruists who had performed costly or risky and normatively rare (<0.00005% per capita) altruistic acts: heroic rescues, non-directed and directed kidney donations, liver donations, marrow or hematopoietic stem cell donations, and humanitarian aid work. Here, we show that the features that best distinguish altruists from controls are traits and decision-making patterns indicating unusually high valuation of others' outcomes: high Honesty-Humility, reduced Social Discounting, and reduced Personal Distress. Two independent samples of adults who were asked what traits would characterize altruists failed to predict this pattern. These findings suggest that theories regarding self-focused motivations for altruism (e.g., self-enhancing reciprocity, reputation enhancement) alone are insufficient explanations for acts of real-world self-sacrifice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - David G Rand
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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18
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Zheng D, Berry DR, Brown KW. Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation and Compassion Meditation on Parochial Empathy and Prosocial Behavior Toward Ethnic Out-Group Members. Mindfulness (N Y) 2023; 14:1-17. [PMID: 37362189 PMCID: PMC10040311 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-023-02100-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/28/2023]
Abstract
Objectives Relative to the tendency to empathize with and help sociocultural in-group members, there are often social and psychological barriers to responding prosocially toward out-group members. This experiment examined the roles of mindfulness instruction and compassion instruction in fostering prosocial behavior toward an ethnic out-group (non-U.S. Arabs) relative to an ethnic in-group (U.S. residents). The study also examined whether contemplative practices would predict less parochial empathy and whether parochial empathy would mediate the relations between mindfulness/compassion and prosocial behavior toward the out-group. Method A national sample of n = 450 U.S. residents was recruited online via the Prolific platform using the standard sample function, which distributed the study to available participants on Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three brief, structurally equivalent audio-recorded instruction conditions: mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, or a relaxation control, and then completed a series of tasks to assess prosociality toward in- and out-group members. Results The compassion training was most effective in reducing parochial empathy when controlling for all covariates. The mindfulness training reduced parochial empathy when controlling for in-group empathy, and it led to greater out-group altruism and support for out-group immigration. Parochial empathy predicted out-group altruism; however, it was not a better predictor of support for Arab immigration than trait empathic concern. Training conditions did not differ on support for out-group cause. Exploratory moderation analyses found that those with higher trait empathic concern and intergroup contact quality were more likely to show compassion training and mindfulness training effects, respectively, on support for out-group immigration. Conclusions Brief compassion training had the strongest effect on parochial empathy, but mindfulness training showed stronger effects on out-group altruism and support for out-group immigration. Predisposing social psychological characteristics may enhance intergroup prosociality among those receiving compassion or mindfulness instruction. Preregistration This study is preregistered at https://osf.io/rnc97. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-023-02100-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise Zheng
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284 USA
| | - Daniel R. Berry
- Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, USA
| | - Kirk Warren Brown
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23284 USA
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
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19
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Contreras-Huerta LS. A cost-benefit framework for prosocial motivation-Advantages and challenges. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1170150. [PMID: 37032941 PMCID: PMC10079904 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1170150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Viña del Mar, Chile
- Center for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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20
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Wijaya VG, Oba K, Ishibashi R, Sugiura M. Why people hesitate to help: Neural correlates of the counter-dynamics of altruistic helping and individual differences in daily helping tendencies. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1080376. [PMID: 36998358 PMCID: PMC10044345 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1080376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent psychological and neuroimaging studies on altruism–egoism dilemmas have promoted our understanding of the processes underlying altruistic motivation; however, little attention has been paid to the egoistic counter-dynamics that prompt hesitancy to help. These counter-dynamics may involve the construction of reasons not to help based on contextual elaboration and explain individual differences in the tendency to help others in daily life. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we explored the neural correlates of altruism–egoism dilemmas during empathy-driven helping decisions, with particular attention to the counter-dynamics related to individual helping tendency traits. We used two context-rich helping decision scenarios. In the empathy dilemma (Emp) scenario, empathy-driven motivation to help a poor person was associated with a cost, whereas in the economic-dilemma (Eco) scenario, self-beneficial motivation to help a non-poor person was associated with a cost. Our results showed activation of the right anterior prefrontal cortices, supramarginal gyrus, and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) for the altruism–egoism dilemma (i.e., Emp > Eco). A significant negative effect of the helping tendency trait score was observed on PCC activation; interestingly, this effect was observed for both Emp and Eco dilemmas. The identified neural correlates of altruism–egoism dilemmas appear to be related to the construction of decision reasons based on contextual elaboration in naturalistic situations. In contrast to the classical view, our results suggest a two-stage model that includes an altruistic helping decision followed by counter-dynamics to determine the individual helping tendency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vidya Gani Wijaya
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Kentaro Oba
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Ryo Ishibashi
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Motoaki Sugiura
- Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- *Correspondence: Motoaki Sugiura,
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21
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Rauchbauer B, Jank G, Dunbar RIM, Lamm C. Only empathy-related traits, not being mimicked or endorphin release, influence social closeness and prosocial behavior. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4072. [PMID: 36906682 PMCID: PMC10008555 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30946-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Seminal studies suggest that being mimicked increases experienced social closeness and prosocial behavior to a mimicking confederate (i.e., interaction partner). Here we reexamine these results by considering the role of empathy-related traits, an indirect proxy for endorphin uptake, and their combined effects as an explanation for these results. 180 female participants were mimicked or anti-mimicked in an interaction with a confederate. The effects of being mimicked versus anti-mimicked in relation to empathy-related traits and endorphin release (assessed indirectly via pain tolerance) on experienced closeness and prosocial behavior were assessed using Bayesian analyses. Our results suggest that high individual empathy-related traits increase social closeness to the anti-mimicking and mimicking confederate and to one's romantic partner, as compared to mimicry alone. Results furthermore strongly suggest that high individual empathy-related traits increase prosocial behavior (donations and willingness to help) as compared to mimicry alone. These findings extend previous work by highlighting that empathy-related traits are more influential in creating positive effects on social closeness and prosocial behavior than a one-shot mimicking encounter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Rauchbauer
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria.,Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010, Vienna, Austria.,Laboratoire Parole et Langage, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, 5 Avenue Pasteur, 13100, Aix-en-Provence, France.,Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, 3, Place Victor-Hugo, 13331, Marseille Cedex 3, France.,Institute of Language, Communication and the Brain, 13100, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Gabriela Jank
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robin I M Dunbar
- Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Anna Watts Building, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Rd, Oxford, OX26GG, UK
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria. .,Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010, Vienna, Austria.
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22
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Chronic stress and stressful emotional contagion affect the empathy-like behavior of rats. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023:10.3758/s13415-023-01081-9. [PMID: 36899132 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01081-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
Empathy is a potential motivation for prosocial behaviors that is related to many psychiatric diseases, such as major depressive disorder; however, its neural mechanisms remain unclear. To elucidate the relationship between empathy and stress, we established a chronic stress contagion (SC) procedure combined with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) to investigate (1) whether depressive rats show impaired empathy-like behavior toward fearful conspecifics, (2) whether frequent social contact with normal familiar conspecifics (social support) alleviates the negative effects of CUMS, and (3) the effect of long-term exposure to a depressed partner on emotional and empathic responses in normal rats. We found that the CUMS group showed less empathy-like behavior in the social transfer of fear model (STFM), as indicated by less social interaction with the demonstrator and reduced freezing behavior in the fear-expression test. Social contact partially alleviated depression-like behaviors and the negative effect of CUMS in the fear-transfer test. The normal rats who experienced stress contagion from daily exposure to a depressed partner for 3 weeks showed lower anxiety and increased social response in the fear-transfer test than the control group. We concluded that chronic stress impairs empathy-like behaviors, while social contact partially buffers the effect of CUMS. Thus, social contact or contagion of stress is mutually beneficial to both stressed individuals and nonstressed partners. Higher dopamine and lower norepinephrine levels in the basolateral amygdala probably contributed to these beneficial effects.
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23
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Vickers BD, Seidler RD, Stansfield RB, Weissman DH, Preston SD. Altruistic responses to the most vulnerable involve sensorimotor processes. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1140986. [PMID: 36970269 PMCID: PMC10036353 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1140986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
IntroductionWhy do people help strangers? Prior research suggests that empathy motivates bystanders to respond to victims in distress. However, this work has revealed relatively little about the role of the motor system in human altruism, even though altruism is thought to have originated as an active, physical response to close others in immediate need. We therefore investigated whether a motor preparatory response contributes to costly helping.MethodsTo accomplish this objective, we contrasted three charity conditions that were more versus less likely to elicit an active motor response, based on the Altruistic Response Model. These conditions described charities that (1) aided neonates versus adults, (2) aided victims requiring immediate versus preparatory support, and (3) provided heroic versus nurturant aid. We hypothesized that observing neonates in immediate need would elicit stronger brain activation in motor-preparatory regions.ResultsConsistent with an evolutionary, caregiving-based theory of altruism, participants donated the most to charities that provided neonates with immediate, nurturant aid. Critically, this three-way donation interaction was associated with increased BOLD signal and gray matter volume in motor-preparatory regions, which we identified in an independent motor retrieval task.DiscussionThese findings advance the field of altruism by shifting the spotlight from passive emotional states toward action processes that evolved to protect the most vulnerable members of our group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian D. Vickers
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Rachael D. Seidler
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - R. Brent Stansfield
- Department of Medical Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Daniel H. Weissman
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Stephanie D. Preston
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- *Correspondence: Stephanie D. Preston,
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24
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Fornari L, Ioumpa K, Nostro AD, Evans NJ, De Angelis L, Speer SPH, Paracampo R, Gallo S, Spezio M, Keysers C, Gazzola V. Neuro-computational mechanisms and individual biases in action-outcome learning under moral conflict. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1218. [PMID: 36878911 PMCID: PMC9988878 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36807-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning to predict action outcomes in morally conflicting situations is essential for social decision-making but poorly understood. Here we tested which forms of Reinforcement Learning Theory capture how participants learn to choose between self-money and other-shocks, and how they adapt to changes in contingencies. We find choices were better described by a reinforcement learning model based on the current value of separately expected outcomes than by one based on the combined historical values of past outcomes. Participants track expected values of self-money and other-shocks separately, with the substantial individual difference in preference reflected in a valuation parameter balancing their relative weight. This valuation parameter also predicted choices in an independent costly helping task. The expectations of self-money and other-shocks were biased toward the favored outcome but fMRI revealed this bias to be reflected in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex while the pain-observation network represented pain prediction errors independently of individual preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Fornari
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Kalliopi Ioumpa
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Alessandra D Nostro
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nathan J Evans
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Lorenzo De Angelis
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sebastian P H Speer
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Riccardo Paracampo
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Selene Gallo
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Spezio
- Psychology, Neuroscience, & Data Science, Scripps College, 1030 Columbia Ave, CA 91711, Claremont, CA, USA
| | - Christian Keysers
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Valeria Gazzola
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. .,Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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25
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Hu J, Konovalov A, Ruff CC. A unified neural account of contextual and individual differences in altruism. eLife 2023; 12:e80667. [PMID: 36752704 PMCID: PMC9908080 DOI: 10.7554/elife.80667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Altruism is critical for cooperation and productivity in human societies but is known to vary strongly across contexts and individuals. The origin of these differences is largely unknown, but may in principle reflect variations in different neurocognitive processes that temporally unfold during altruistic decision making (ranging from initial perceptual processing via value computations to final integrative choice mechanisms). Here, we elucidate the neural origins of individual and contextual differences in altruism by examining altruistic choices in different inequality contexts with computational modeling and electroencephalography (EEG). Our results show that across all contexts and individuals, wealth distribution choices recruit a similar late decision process evident in model-predicted evidence accumulation signals over parietal regions. Contextual and individual differences in behavior related instead to initial processing of stimulus-locked inequality-related value information in centroparietal and centrofrontal sensors, as well as to gamma-band synchronization of these value-related signals with parietal response-locked evidence-accumulation signals. Our findings suggest separable biological bases for individual and contextual differences in altruism that relate to differences in the initial processing of choice-relevant information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Hu
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Arkady Konovalov
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Christian C Ruff
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- University Research Priority Program 'Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning' (URPP AdaBD), University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
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Experiencing sweet taste is associated with an increase in prosocial behavior. Sci Rep 2023; 13:1954. [PMID: 36732349 PMCID: PMC9894851 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28553-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Taste may be the first sense that emerged in evolution. Taste is also a very important sense since it signals potential beneficial or dangerous effects of foods. Given this fundamental role of taste in our lives, it is not surprising that taste also affects our psychological perception and thinking. For example, previous research demonstrated remarkable psychological effects of sweet taste experiences, suggesting that sweetness may be a source domain for prosocial functioning. Recent research reports that briefly experiencing sweet taste made participants more helpful in their intentions and behavior. The current study aims to test this hypothesis and to examine the neural underpinnings of this effect by using an fMRI approach. Participants were asked to taste sweet, salty, and neutral taste while lying in the fMRI scanner. Subsequently their prosocial behavior was tested by playing the dictator game, a measure of prosocial behavior. Results showed that sweet taste was associated with an increase in prosocial behavior compared with previously experiencing salty taste but did not affect control stimuli ratings. FMRI results revealed a modulation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex associated with this sweetness effect. This brain area is known to play a central role for monitoring conflicts and decisions and has been directly linked to selfish and prosocial economic decisions. The results demonstrate that sweet taste has complex psychological effects including positive and socially desirable outcomes. We discuss the results with other studies on psychological sweetness effects and suggest possible implications of these findings.
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Chen YQ, Han S, Yin B. Why help others? Insights from rodent to human early childhood research. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1058352. [PMID: 37025110 PMCID: PMC10070705 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1058352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Helping behavior are actions aiming at assisting another individual in need or to relieve their distress. The occurrence of this behavior not only depends on automated physiological mechanisms, such as imitation or emotional contagion, that is, the individual's emotion and physiological state matching with others, but also needs motivation to sustain. From a comparative and developmental perspective, we discover that the motivation for helping behavior has a deep foundation both phylogenetically and ontogenetically. For example, empathic concern for others, relieving personal distress and the desire for social contact are universal motivations across rodents, non-human primates and human early childhoods. Therefore, a circle-layered model integrating evidences for motivation for helping behavior from rodent to human early childhood research is proposed: the inner circle contains the emotional-behavioral system and the outer circle contains the affective-cognitive system. The application of this model has significance for both behavioral neuroscience research and cultivating prosocial behavior in human society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Qin Chen
- Laboratory of Learning and Behavioral Sciences, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Shu Han
- Laboratory of Learning and Behavioral Sciences, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Bin Yin
- Laboratory of Learning and Behavioral Sciences, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
- Department of Applied Psychology, School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
- *Correspondence: Bin Yin,
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28
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Feakes A, Lindsay N, Palmer E, Steffens P. Altruism or self-interest in tomorrow's veterinarians? A metric conjoint experiment and cluster analysis. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1044463. [PMID: 37089402 PMCID: PMC10113617 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1044463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Altruism is considered a trait of veterinary and other health professionals, but the level of altruism in the veterinary profession is unknown. We designed a metric conjoint experiment to reveal other-orientation (an individual's caring concern for the wellbeing of others) and self-interest. We draw on the 'Theory of Other-Orientation', which states that individuals' decision-making heuristics can be impacted by their other-orientation independent of their self-interest. In patient-focused contexts, highly other-oriented or altruistic (veterinary) professionals may care too much for others and suffer immediate or cumulative financial and personal costs of such caring. At the same time, other-orientation can enhance job-related attitudes and outcomes, such as job satisfaction. Methods In a metric conjoint experiment, Australian final-year veterinary, science, nursing, entrepreneurship, and engineering students rated eight job scenarios with orthogonally arranged high and low levels of three job characteristics (n = 586) to provide observed measures of other-orientation and self-interest. Results A two-way MANOVA showed other-orientation or self-interest differed per discipline, but not gender. Veterinary (and engineering) respondents were less other-oriented than nursing respondents. Veterinary (and entrepreneurship) respondents were more self-interested than nursing respondents. K-Means cluster analysis confirmed four distinct profile groupings-altruistic/self-sacrificing, 'both other-self', self-interested and selfish-aligning with the discourse in the literature. Human nursing respondents stood out for the most members (50%) in the 'both other-self' profile compared to veterinary respondents (28%). Respondents of one of three veterinary schools stood out for the most members (19%) in the altruistic/self-sacrificing group. Discussion Our metric conjoint experiment illustrates an alternative to 'self-report' items with Likert-scaled responses. Our finding of the 'both other-self' group adds to the literature, which considers that other-orientation and self-interest are separate constructs that are difficult to co-exist in individuals. This mix of traits is deemed helpful by organizational psychology scholars, for sustainability and wellbeing, especially for healthcare professionals involved in high-frequency and intense, patient-focused interactions. Our findings highlight the need for more research on the potential role of other-orientation and self-interest in veterinary school admissions processes, the hidden or taught curricula, job-related attitudes and beliefs, and wellbeing and professional sustainability in the veterinary sector.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adele Feakes
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia
- Entrepreneurship Commercialisation and Innovation Center, Adelaide Business School, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- *Correspondence: Adele Feakes
| | - Noel Lindsay
- Adelaide Business School, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Edward Palmer
- School of Education, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Paul Steffens
- Entrepreneurship Commercialisation and Innovation Center, Adelaide Business School, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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De Moor EL, Cheng TY, Spitzer JE, Berger C, Carrizales A, Garandeau CF, Gerbino M, Hawk ST, Kaniušonytė G, Kumru A, Malonda E, Rovella A, Shen YL, Taylor LK, van Zalk M, Branje S, Carlo G, Padilla Walker L, Van der Graaff J. What Should I do and Who's to blame? A cross-national study on youth's attitudes and beliefs in times of COVID-19. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0279366. [PMID: 36542632 PMCID: PMC9770422 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth's attitudes towards their government's response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth's social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ting-Yu Cheng
- Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jenna E. Spitzer
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Berger
- School of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alexia Carrizales
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | | | - Maria Gerbino
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Skyler T. Hawk
- Educational Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Goda Kaniušonytė
- Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Asiye Kumru
- Department of Psychology, Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Elisabeth Malonda
- Department of Basic Psychology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Anna Rovella
- Psychology Department, San Luis National University, San Luis, Argentina
| | - Yuh-Ling Shen
- Department of Psychology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, Taiwan
| | - Laura K. Taylor
- School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Maarten van Zalk
- Developmental Psychology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Susan Branje
- Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Gustavo Carlo
- School of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Laura Padilla Walker
- School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States of America
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30
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On the cognitive mechanisms supporting prosocial disobedience in a post-genocidal context. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21875. [PMID: 36536035 PMCID: PMC9763397 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26460-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to offer a first investigation of the neuro-cognitive processes and the temporal dynamics at the neural level, together with cultural, social and psychological dimensions, that may support resistance to orders to harm another person. Using a novel experimental approach to study experimentally disobedience, we recruited individuals from the first generation born after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Seventy-two were recruited and tested in Rwanda and 72 were recruited and tested in Belgium. Results indicated that a higher neural response to the pain of others and a higher feeling of responsibility when people obeyed orders were associated with more resistance to immoral orders. We also observed that participants who had a higher processing, as measured through mid-frontal theta activity, when listening to the orders of the experimenter disobeyed less frequently to immoral orders. Further, participants experiencing a higher conflict before administering a shock to the 'victim' also disobeyed more frequently to immoral orders. Finally, a low cultural relationship to authority and a high estimated family suffering during the genocide were also associated with more disobedience to immoral orders. The present study opens new paths for interdisciplinary field research dedicated to the study of obedience.
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31
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Tang H, Zhu R, Liang Z, Zhang S, Su S, Liu C. Enhancing and weakening conformity in third‐party punishment: The role of empathic concern. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/bdm.2315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Honghong Tang
- Business School Beijing Normal University Beijing China
| | - Ruida Zhu
- Business School Beijing Normal University Beijing China
| | - Zilu Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research Beijing Normal University Beijing China
- Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences Beijing Normal University Beijing China
| | - Sihui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research Beijing Normal University Beijing China
- Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences Beijing Normal University Beijing China
| | - Song Su
- Business School Beijing Normal University Beijing China
| | - Chao Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research Beijing Normal University Beijing China
- Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences Beijing Normal University Beijing China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics Beijing Normal University Beijing China
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32
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Sympathy-Empathy and the Radicalization of Young People. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 9:children9121889. [PMID: 36553332 PMCID: PMC9777530 DOI: 10.3390/children9121889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The sympathy-empathy (SE) system is commonly considered a key faculty implied in prosocial behaviors, and SE deficits (also called callous-unemotional traits, CUTs) are associated with nonprosocial and even violent behaviors. Thus, the first intuitive considerations considered a lack of SE among young people who undergo radicalization. Yet, their identification with a cause, their underlying feelings of injustice and grievance, and the other ways in which they may help communities, suggest that they may actually have a lot of empathy, even an excess of it. As a consequence, the links between SE and radicalization remain to be specified. This critical review aims to discuss whether and how SE is associated with developmental trajectories that lead young people to radicalization. METHOD We first recall the most recent findings about SE development, based on an interdisciplinary perspective informed by social neuroscience. Then, we review sociological and psychological studies that address radicalization. We will critically examine the intersections between SE and radicalization, including neuroscientific bases and anthropologic modulation of SE by social factors involved in radicalization. RESULTS This critical review indicates that the SE model should clearly distinguish between sympathy and empathy within the SE system. Using this model, we identified three possible trajectories in young radicalized individuals. In individuals with SE deficit, the legitimization of violence is enough to engage in radicalization. Concerning individuals with normal SE, we hypothesize two trajectories. First, based on SE inhibition/desensitization, individuals can temporarily join youths who lack empathy. Second, based on an SE dissociation, combining emotional sympathy increases for the in-group and cognitive empathy decreases toward the out-group. CONCLUSIONS While confirming that a lack of empathy can favor radicalization, the counterintuitive hypothesis of a favorable SE development trajectory also needs to be considered to better specify the cognitive and affective aspects of this complex phenomenon.
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33
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Bray KO, Pozzi E, Vijayakumar N, Richmond S, Seal M, Pantelis C, Anderson V, Whittle S. Empathy and resting-state functional connectivity in children. NEUROIMAGE: REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2022.100142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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34
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Weiß M, Iotzov V, Zhou Y, Hein G. The bright and dark sides of egoism. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1054065. [PMID: 36506436 PMCID: PMC9729783 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1054065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite its negative reputation, egoism - the excessive concern for one's own welfare - can incite prosocial behavior. So far, however, egoism-based prosociality has received little attention. Here, we first provide an overview of the conditions under which egoism turns into a prosocial motive, review the benefits and limitations of egoism-based prosociality, and compare them with empathy-driven prosocial behavior. Second, we summarize studies investigating the neural processing of egoism-based prosocial decisions, studies investigating the neural processing of empathy-based prosocial decisions, and the small number of studies that compared the neural processing of prosocial decisions elicited by the different motives. We conclude that there is evidence for differential neural networks involved in egoism and empathy-based prosocial decisions. However, this evidence is not yet conclusive, because it is mainly based on the comparison of different experimental paradigms which may exaggerate or overshadow the effect of the different motivational states. Finally, we propose paradigms and research questions that should be tackled in future research that could help to specify how egoism can be used to enhance other prosocial behavior and motivation, and the how it could be tamed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Weiß
- Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Center of Mental Health, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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35
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Hu Z, Wen Y, Wang Y, Lin Y, Shi J, Yu Z, Lin Y, Wang Y. Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on empathy: A meta-analysis. Front Psychol 2022; 13:992575. [PMID: 36337535 PMCID: PMC9632989 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.992575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy is essential for human survival and social interaction. Although mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been used to improve empathy in healthy populations, its therapeutic efficacy remains unknown. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effects of MBIs on empathy in a healthy population and the potential factors affecting the efficacy of MBIs. The literature search focused on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CNKI from inception to September 2022. Randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies reporting the effects of using MBIs on empathy in healthy populations were included. A total of 13 studies were included in this review. Results of the meta-analysis showed that MBIs improved empathy (SMD, 0.372, 95% CI, 0.164-0.579, p = 0.001) in the healthy population compared with that in the control group. Moreover, results of the subgroup analysis showed that intervention dose (over 24 h vs. under 24 h), format (online vs. offline), and types (different types) were important factors affecting treatment outcomes. This comprehensive review suggests that MBIs are effective treatment for empathy in healthy population. Future research should markedly focus on large-sample, rigorously designed experiments to explore the long-term effects of MBIs on empathy and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of MBIs. This study provides a reference for the daily application of MBIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyu Hu
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, China
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yurong Wen
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
| | - Yafei Wang
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yangyang Lin
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian Shi
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, China
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zihan Yu
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, China
| | - Youtian Lin
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Postgraduate Research Institute, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuling Wang
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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36
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Vieira JB, Olsson A. Neural defensive circuits underlie helping under threat in humans. eLife 2022; 11:78162. [PMID: 36281636 PMCID: PMC9596154 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Empathy for others’ distress has long been considered the driving force of helping. However, when deciding to help others in danger, one must consider not only their distress, but also the risk to oneself. Whereas the role of self-defense in helping has been overlooked in human research, studies in other animals indicate defensive responses are necessary for the protection of conspecifics. In this pre-registered study (N=49), we demonstrate that human defensive neural circuits are implicated in helping others under threat. Participants underwent fMRI scanning while deciding whether to help another participant avoid aversive electrical shocks, at the risk of also being shocked. We found that higher engagement of neural circuits that coordinate fast escape from self-directed danger (including the insula, PAG, and ACC) facilitated decisions to help others. Importantly, using representational similarity analysis, we found that the strength with which the amygdala and insula uniquely represented the threat to oneself (and not the other’s distress) predicted helping. Our findings indicate that in humans, as other mammals, defensive mechanisms play a greater role in helping behavior than previously understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana B Vieira
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
| | - Andreas Olsson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
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37
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Yu H, Contreras-Huerta LS, Prosser AMB, Apps MAJ, Hofmann W, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Crockett MJ. Neural and Cognitive Signatures of Guilt Predict Hypocritical Blame. Psychol Sci 2022; 33:1909-1927. [PMID: 36201792 DOI: 10.1177/09567976221122765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A common form of moral hypocrisy occurs when people blame others for moral violations that they themselves commit. It is assumed that hypocritical blamers act in this manner to falsely signal that they hold moral standards that they do not really accept. We tested this assumption by investigating the neurocognitive processes of hypocritical blamers during moral decision-making. Participants (62 adult UK residents; 27 males) underwent functional MRI scanning while deciding whether to profit by inflicting pain on others and then judged the blameworthiness of others' identical decisions. Observers (188 adult U.S. residents; 125 males) judged participants who blamed others for making the same harmful choice to be hypocritical, immoral, and untrustworthy. However, analyzing hypocritical blamers' behaviors and neural responses shows that hypocritical blame was positively correlated with conflicted feelings, neural responses to moral standards, and guilt-related neural responses. These findings demonstrate that hypocritical blamers may hold the moral standards that they apply to others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongbo Yu
- Department of Psychology, Yale University.,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara
| | - Luis Sebastian Contreras-Huerta
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.,Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford.,Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham
| | - Annayah M B Prosser
- Department of Psychology, Yale University.,Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.,Department of Psychology, University of Bath
| | - Matthew A J Apps
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.,Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham
| | | | - Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University.,Department of Philosophy, Duke University.,Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University.,Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University
| | - Molly J Crockett
- Department of Psychology, Yale University.,Department of Psychology, Princeton University
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38
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Wu X, Lu X, Zhang H, Bi Y, Gu R, Kong Y, Hu L. Sex difference in trait empathy is encoded in the human anterior insula. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:5055-5065. [PMID: 36190444 PMCID: PMC10151876 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Females are considered the more empathic sex. This conventional view, however, has been challenged in the past few decades with mixed findings. These heterogeneous findings could be caused by the fact that empathy is a complex and multifaceted construct. To clarify whether sex differences exist in certain dimensions of empathy and whether they are associated with specific neural bases, this study measured trait empathy using the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI) and collected brain structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging data in a large sample of healthy participants (206 males vs. 302 females). We found that females scored higher in the personal distress (PD) subscale than males, but they were comparable to males in other IRI subscales. Sex difference in PD was encoded by brain structural (e.g. gray matter volume in left anterior insula [AI]) and functional (e.g. resting-state functional connectivity between left AI and temporoparietal junction/inferior frontal gyrus) characteristics. Notably, the relationship between sex and PD was indirect-only and serially mediated by AI-associated structural and functional characteristics. Altogether, our results suggested that sex difference existed in self-oriented affective empathy (i.e. PD) and highlighted the importance of the AI, both structurally and functionally, in mediating the sex difference in trait empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xuejing Lu
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Huijuan Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yanzhi Bi
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Ruolei Gu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yazhuo Kong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Li Hu
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China
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39
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Bray KO, Pozzi E, Vijayakumar N, Richmond S, Deane C, Pantelis C, Anderson V, Whittle S. Individual differences in brain structure and self-reported empathy in children. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:1078-1089. [PMID: 35338471 PMCID: PMC9458571 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-00993-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Empathy refers to the understanding and sharing of others' emotions and comprises cognitive and affective components. Empathy is important for social functioning, and alterations in empathy have been demonstrated in many developmental or psychiatric disorders. While several studies have examined associations between empathy and brain structure in adults, few have investigated this relationship in children. Investigating associations between empathy and brain structure during childhood will help us to develop a deeper understanding of the neural correlates of empathy across the lifespan. A total of 125 children (66 females, mean age 10 years) underwent magnetic resonance imaging brain scans. Grey matter volume and cortical thickness from structural images were examined using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12) within Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM12) software. Children completed questionnaire measures of empathy (cognitive empathy, affective empathy: affective sharing, empathic concern, and empathic distress). In hypothesised region of interest analyses, individual differences in affective and cognitive empathy were related to grey matter volume in the insula and the precuneus. Although these relationships were of similar strength to those found in previous research, they did not survive correction for the total number of models computed. While no significant findings were detected between grey matter volume and empathy in exploratory whole-brain analysis, associations were found between cortical thickness and empathic concern in the right precentral gyrus. This study provides preliminary evidence that individual differences in self-reported empathy in children may be related to aspects of brain structure. Findings highlight the need for more research investigating the neurobiological correlates of empathy in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine O Bray
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC), Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne & Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia.
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Elena Pozzi
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC), Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne & Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - Sally Richmond
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Camille Deane
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Christos Pantelis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC), Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne & Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Vicki Anderson
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Murdoch Children's Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Sarah Whittle
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC), Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne & Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
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40
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Chen P, Kirk U, Dikker S. Trait mindful awareness predicts inter-brain coupling but not individual brain responses during naturalistic face-to-face interactions. Front Psychol 2022; 13:915345. [PMID: 36248509 PMCID: PMC9561904 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, the possible benefits of mindfulness meditation have sparked much public and academic interest. Mindfulness emphasizes cultivating awareness of our immediate experience and has been associated with compassion, empathy, and various other prosocial traits. However, neurobiological evidence pertaining to the prosocial benefits of mindfulness in social settings is sparse. In this study, we investigate neural correlates of trait mindful awareness during naturalistic dyadic interactions, using both intra-brain and inter-brain measures. We used the Muse headset, a portable electroencephalogram (EEG) device often used to support mindfulness meditation, to record brain activity from dyads as they engaged in naturalistic face-to-face interactions in a museum setting. While we did not replicate prior laboratory-based findings linking trait mindfulness to individual brain responses (N = 379 individuals), self-reported mindful awareness did predict dyadic inter-brain synchrony, in theta (~5-8 Hz) and beta frequencies (~26-27 Hz; N = 62 dyads). These findings underscore the importance of conducting social neuroscience research in ecological settings to enrich our understanding of how (multi-brain) neural correlates of social traits such as mindful awareness manifest during social interaction, while raising critical practical considerations regarding the viability of commercially available EEG systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phoebe Chen
- Psychology Department, New York University, New York City, NY, United States
| | - Ulrich Kirk
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Suzanne Dikker
- Psychology Department, New York University, New York City, NY, United States
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Max Planck - NYU Center for Language Music and Emotion, New York University, New York City, NY, United States
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41
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Lyu D, Liu Q, Pan Y, Wang A, Pei G, Jin J. The different role of trait empathy and state social exclusion empathy on subsequent feelings about gambling outcome:Evidence from event-related potentials and time-frequency decompositions. Neuropsychologia 2022; 176:108369. [PMID: 36167191 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Empathy plays an essential role in determining how we understand and respond to others' emotional experiences. Previous studies have mainly focused on the influencing factors of physical pain and monetary loss empathy, as well as on their effects on subsequent feelings. However, little is known about social pain empathy and its influence on subsequent feelings, and the role of personal trait empathy. In this study, we performed Cyberball Games and gambling tasks to explore the effect of social exclusion empathy on subsequent feelings for gambling outcomes (others' losses and gains) by analyzing the brain activity of excluded and non-excluded players at the gambling outcome feedback stage. It was found that both feedback-related negativity (FRN) and theta-band oscillatory are more negative for loss outcome than gain for the excluded players, while these effects cannot be found for the non-excluded players. Furthermore, we only observed a larger P300 amplitude in the gain outcome than that of loss, regardless of the players' role. More interestingly, we found state social pain empathy is negatively correlated with the d-FRN amplitude under non-excluded conditions, while trait empathy is positively correlated with P300 amplitude regardless of the players' role. These results provide insight into the different roles of state social pain empathy and trait empathy on subsequent gambling outcomes. Furthermore, different from previous studies, the current results show that d-FRN could reflect the state empathy discrepancy rather than the biomarker of state empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Lyu
- Research Center for Intelligent Society and Governance, Research Institute of Interdisciplinary Innovation, Zhejiang Lab, 1818# Wenyi West Road, Hangzhou, 311121, PR China
| | - Qingsong Liu
- Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China; School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China
| | - Yu Pan
- Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China; School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China
| | - Ailian Wang
- Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China; School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China
| | - Guanxiong Pei
- Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Zhejiang Lab, 1818# Wenyi West Road, Hangzhou, 311121, PR China.
| | - Jia Jin
- Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China; School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, 550# Dalian West Road, Shanghai, 200083, PR China.
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42
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Wu X, Lu X, Zhang H, Wang X, Kong Y, Hu L. The association between ballroom dance training and empathic concern: Behavioral and brain evidence. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:315-326. [PMID: 35972315 PMCID: PMC9842917 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Dance is unique in that it is a sport and an art simultaneously. Beyond improving sensorimotor functions, dance training could benefit high-level emotional and cognitive functions. Duo dances also confer the possibility for dancers to develop the abilities to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of their dance partners during the long-term dance training. To test this possibility, we collected high-resolution structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 43 expert-level ballroom dancers (a model of long-term exposure to duo dance training) and 40 age-matched and sex-matched nondancers, and measured their empathic ability using a self-report trait empathy scale. We found that ballroom dancers showed higher scores of empathic concern (EC) than controls. The EC scores were positively correlated with years with dance partners but negatively correlated with the number of dance partners for ballroom dancers. These behavioral results were supported by the structural and functional MRI data. Structurally, we observed that the gray matter volumes in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and EC scores were positively correlated. Functionally, the connectivity between ACC and occipital gyrus was positively correlated with both EC scores and years with dance partners. In addition, the relationship between years with dance partners and EC scores was indirect-only mediated by the ACC-occipital gyrus functional connectivity. Therefore, our findings provided solid evidence for the close link between long-term ballroom dance training and empathy, which deepens our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral ScienceInstitute of PsychologyBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Xuejing Lu
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental HealthInstitute of PsychologyBeijingChina
| | - Huijuan Zhang
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental HealthInstitute of PsychologyBeijingChina
| | - Xiao Wang
- School of ArtBeijing Sport UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yazhuo Kong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral ScienceInstitute of PsychologyBeijingChina,Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Li Hu
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina,CAS Key Laboratory of Mental HealthInstitute of PsychologyBeijingChina
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43
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Contreras-Huerta LS, Lockwood PL, Bird G, Apps MAJ, Crockett MJ. Prosocial behavior is associated with transdiagnostic markers of affective sensitivity in multiple domains. Emotion 2022; 22:820-835. [PMID: 32718171 PMCID: PMC9301775 DOI: 10.1037/emo0000813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Prosocial behaviors-actions that benefit others-fundamentally shape our interpersonal interactions. Psychiatric disorders have been suggested to be related to prosocial disturbances, which may underlie many of their social impairments. However, broader affective traits, present to different degrees in both psychiatric and healthy populations, also have been linked to variability in prosociality. Therefore, it is unclear to what extent prosocial variability is explained by specific psychiatric disorders relative to broad affective traits. Using a computational, transdiagnostic approach in two online studies, we found that participants who reported being more affectively reactive across a broad cluster of traits manifested greater frequencies of prosocial actions in two different contexts: They reported being more averse to harming others for profit, and they were more willing to exert effort to benefit others. These findings help illuminate the profile of prosociality across psychiatric conditions as well as the architecture of prosocial behavior in healthy individuals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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44
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Self-other differences in intertemporal decision making: An eye-tracking investigation. Conscious Cogn 2022; 102:103356. [PMID: 35636353 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated how intertemporal choices made for others differed from those made for oneself, and how attention directed to specific attributes of the choice problem contributed to such differences. Moderating effects of components of trait empathy, chronic construal-level, and personal sense of power were examined. Thirty-five participants performed a money choice task where they made choices for themselves and on behalf of an acquaintance, during which their eye movements were tracked. Results showed that lower scores on the fantasy component of empathy predicted decreased delay discounting while making decisions for others, while higher empathic concern favoured less impulsive choices for both self and others. Higher sense of power favoured less impulsive choices for both self and others. While making decisions for others, higher power biased more attention towards the reward attribute of the choice, which in turn predicted less delay discounting. Results are discussed from a construal-level perspective.
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45
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Considering the Role of Empathy in the Links Between Discrimination and Prosocial Behaviors. JOURNAL OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10804-022-09406-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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46
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Langley C, Cirstea BI, Cuzzolin F, Sahakian BJ. Theory of Mind and Preference Learning at the Interface of Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and AI: A Review. Front Artif Intell 2022; 5:778852. [PMID: 35493614 PMCID: PMC9038841 DOI: 10.3389/frai.2022.778852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Theory of Mind (ToM)-the ability of the human mind to attribute mental states to others-is a key component of human cognition. In order to understand other people's mental states or viewpoint and to have successful interactions with others within social and occupational environments, this form of social cognition is essential. The same capability of inferring human mental states is a prerequisite for artificial intelligence (AI) to be integrated into society, for example in healthcare and the motoring industry. Autonomous cars will need to be able to infer the mental states of human drivers and pedestrians to predict their behavior. In the literature, there has been an increasing understanding of ToM, specifically with increasing cognitive science studies in children and in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Similarly, with neuroimaging studies there is now a better understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie ToM. In addition, new AI algorithms for inferring human mental states have been proposed with more complex applications and better generalisability. In this review, we synthesize the existing understanding of ToM in cognitive and neurosciences and the AI computational models that have been proposed. We focus on preference learning as an area of particular interest and the most recent neurocognitive and computational ToM models. We also discuss the limitations of existing models and hint at potential approaches to allow ToM models to fully express the complexity of the human mind in all its aspects, including values and preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christelle Langley
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Bogdan Ionut Cirstea
- School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Fabio Cuzzolin
- School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Barbara J. Sahakian
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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47
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Yu D, Geldhof GJ, Buckingham M, Gonçalves C, Yang PJ, Michaelson LE, Berg J, Ni Y, Lerner RM. “Today, I cared about how a classmate felt”: Fluctuations in empathy are linked to daily mood in adolescence. JOURNAL OF APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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48
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Cui F, Huang X, Jing Y, Luo YJ, Liu J, Gu R. How resource sharing resists scarcity: the role of cognitive empathy and its neurobiological mechanisms. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:5330-5342. [PMID: 35134875 PMCID: PMC9712734 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Resource scarcity challenges individuals' willingness to share limited resources with other people. Still, lots of field studies and laboratory experiments have shown that sharing behaviors do not disappear under scarcity. Rather, some individuals are willing to share their scarce resources with others in a similar way as when the resource is abundant, which is crucial for the maintenance and development of human society. Here, we designed a novel paradigm in which subjects decided whether (and how much) to share an amount of "relieving resources" for counteracting unpleasant noises, which mimics real-life situations that people cost their own resources to help others escape from adversity. Overall, the robustness of resource sharing under scarcity was positively correlated with individual level of the cognitive component of empathy across two independent experiments. Resource insufficiency modulated the activations of several brain regions (including the TPJ, mPFC, and PCC) as well as the functional connection (from the rTPJ to the mPFC) within the mentalizing brain network, but the modulatory effect decreased as a function of cognitive empathy. We also applied the administration of oxytocin and found significant effects on sharing behavior among individuals with a higher level of cognitive empathy, but not their low-level counterparts. These findings highlight the importance of empathy to resource sharing under scarcity and explain the underlying neurobiological mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Cui
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China,Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Huang
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Yiming Jing
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yue-jia Luo
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China,Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China
| | - Jie Liu
- Corresponding author: CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China. (RG); Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China. (JL)
| | - Ruolei Gu
- Corresponding author: CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China. (RG); Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China. (JL)
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49
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Yang J, Gu R, Liu J, Deng K, Huang X, Luo YJ, Cui F. To Blame or Not? Modulating Third-Party Punishment with the Framing Effect. Neurosci Bull 2022; 38:533-547. [PMID: 34988911 PMCID: PMC9106775 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-021-00808-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
People as third-party observers, without direct self-interest, may punish norm violators to maintain social norms. However, third-party judgment and the follow-up punishment might be susceptible to the way we frame (i.e., verbally describe) a norm violation. We conducted a behavioral and a neuroimaging experiment to investigate the above phenomenon, which we call the "third-party framing effect". In these experiments, participants observed an anonymous perpetrator deciding whether to keep her/his economic benefit while exposing a victim to a risk of physical pain (described as "harming others" in one condition and "not helping others" in the other condition), then they had a chance to punish that perpetrator at their own cost. Our results showed that the participants were more willing to execute third-party punishment under the harm frame compared to the help frame, manifesting a framing effect. Self-reported anger toward perpetrators mediated the relationship between empathy toward victims and the framing effect. Meanwhile, activation of the insula mediated the relationship between mid-cingulate cortex activation and the framing effect; the functional connectivity between these regions significantly predicted the size of the framing effect. These findings shed light on the psychological and neural mechanisms of the third-party framing effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiamiao Yang
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
| | - Ruolei Gu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Jie Liu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
| | - Kexin Deng
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Huang
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
| | - Yue-Jia Luo
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Fang Cui
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China. .,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
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50
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Influence of empathic concern on fairness-related decision making: Evidence from ERP. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA SINICA 2022. [DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1041.2022.00385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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