Neural correlates of the rejection of unfair offers in the impunity game
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
Haruto Takagishi1, Taiki Takahashi, Akira Toyomura
1Department of Behavioral Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Objectives:
This study examined the roles of the insula and the anterior cingulate activations in the rejection of unfair offers in the impunity game.
Methods:
Fifteen participants played the impunity game in ten trials as responders during neuroimaging.
Results:
About 45% of the unfair offers were rejected by the responders even when responders could not restore a fair outcome, which cannot be accounted for by social preference of inequity aversion. Imaging data showed that the right anterior insula was activated when participants faced and rejected unfair offers.
Conclusions:
The insula activation during a rejection of the unfair offers is the reflection of an emotional response, rather than social preference of inequity aversion. The role of emotion in the neuroeconomics of fairness was demonstrated.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Factors Influencing Attraction IV: Reciprocity
Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Social Foundations of Self I: Play and Game
Compensation Mechanisms
Respiratory Compensation
This mechanism addresses metabolic-induced pH imbalances by adjusting breathing rates. Respiratory compensation begins within minutes of detecting a pH...
Motivational Bias
Confirmation Biases

