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Related Experiment Video

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The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

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Published on: August 25, 2023

Brain potentials in outcome evaluation: when social comparison takes effect.

Yan Wu¹, Dexuan Zhang, Bill Elieson

¹Department of Psychology, School of Educational Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China. lewuyan@126.com

International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology

|June 19, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Social comparison influences how the brain processes outcomes, affecting later cognitive and affective appraisal stages. This neurophysiological evidence highlights social comparison

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Social Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

Social comparison is fundamental to human interaction, influencing opinions and abilities.
Prior research indicates social comparison plays a role in reward processing.
The temporal dynamics of social comparison's effect on outcome evaluation are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how social comparison with an anonymous partner modulates brain activity.
To explore the time-course of social comparison effects during outcome evaluation.

Main Methods:

Measured event-related potentials (ERPs) during a dot estimation task.
Participants viewed their own and a partner's gain/loss outcomes.
Analyzed specific ERP components: feedback-related negativity (FRN), P300, and late positive potential (LPP).

Main Results:

Social comparison did not affect the feedback-related negativity (FRN) difference between gains and losses.
The P300 component was larger for gains and modulated by social comparison irrespective of feedback valence.
The late positive potential (LPP) was modulated by social comparison but not feedback valence.

Conclusions:

Social comparison impacts outcome evaluation at later stages of information processing.
Early, coarse evaluation stages are unaffected, while later cognitive/affective appraisal is modulated.
Provides neurophysiological evidence for social comparison's role in human brain's outcome evaluations.