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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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Social comparison impacts stimulus evaluation in a competitive social learning task.

Rebecca Burnside1, Markus Ullsperger1,2

  • 1Department of Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.

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This study reveals that early brain responses to stimuli reflect subjective value during social learning. Competitive individuals show greater attention to partners

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Learned values of behaviors are subjective and influenced by social comparison.
  • The temporal dynamics of physiological responses during social learning are not well understood in humans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how the brain processes stimulus valuation in a social learning context using electroencephalography (EEG).
  • To explore the relationship between individual competitiveness and neural responses during social comparison.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a 64-channel EEG to record stimulus-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) during a sequential social learning task.
  • Manipulated reward structures in self-variable and other-variable conditions to assess subjective value encoding.
  • Measured participants' self-reported competitiveness.

Main Results:

  • Early ERPs (approx. 200 ms post-stimulus) encoded subjective stimulus value in self-variable blocks.
  • This pattern reversed in other-variable blocks, indicating processing relative to the partner's outcome.
  • Higher competitiveness correlated with increased attention to the partner's outcome.

Conclusions:

  • Subjective stimulus valuation is reflected in early, stimulus-locked ERPs.
  • Competitive individuals demonstrate heightened attention to social comparison outcomes.
  • These findings shed light on the neural basis of social valuation and competition.