Reward and Imitation in Social Conformity

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Social Psychology
• Neuroeconomics

Background:

• Normative social conformity is often explained by hedonic reward signals.
• These signals are thought to reinforce decisions and associated contextual features.
• An alternative explanation involves non-hedonic imitation processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate between hedonic social reward and non-hedonic imitation as drivers of normative conformity.
• To test whether social conformity signals reinforce incidental stimulus features.
• To compare the predictive power of social reward and imitation models.

Main Methods:

• Two studies (N=359) employed a three-participant gambling task.
• Participants observed real-time selections and payoffs of others.
• Computational cognitive modeling assessed contributions of monetary reward, social reward, and imitation.

Main Results:

• Decision unanimity increased the likelihood of staying with losing options, supporting both social reward and imitation.
• Only monetary payoffs, not social factors, modulated the valence of incidental stimuli.
• A hybrid model did not outperform a pure imitation model.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest non-valanced imitative processes play a significant role in normative conformity.
• Social conformity appears driven more by imitation than hedonic reward.
• Future research should explore how social and informational factors interact with imitation and reward in learning.