Are you worth the wait? Waiting time modulates the social feedback processing: Evidence from event-related potentials

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Social feedback processing is crucial for forming relationships.
• The influence of waiting duration on social feedback perception is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how varying waiting times impact neural responses to social feedback.
• To examine the effects of waiting on event-related potentials (ERPs) like N170, reward positivity (RewP), and P3.

Main Methods:

• Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record brain activity in 36 participants.
• Participants underwent a social evaluation task with short (800-1200 ms) and long (5000-6000 ms) feedback delays from liked and disliked peers.

Main Results:

• Longer waits enhanced the value of acceptance from liked peers but decreased it for disliked peers.
• EEG data showed increased RewP for long waits with liked peers and decreased RewP with disliked peers.
• N170 and P3 amplitudes were larger with longer waiting times, suggesting increased attention and memory load.

Conclusions:

• Waiting time significantly modulates the processing of social feedback, influenced by personal preferences.
• Extended waiting periods can amplify reward value, contrary to expectations.
• Findings provide insights into the neurocognitive basis of social decision-making under temporal uncertainty.