Influence of warmth and competence on the promotion of safe in-group selection. Stereotype content model and social categorization of faces

Categorizing an individual as a friend or foe plays a pivotal role in navigating the social world. According to the Stereotype Content Model, social perception relies on two fundamental dimensions, Warmth and Competence, which allow us to process the intentions of others and their ability to enact those intentions, respectively. Social cognition research indicates that, in categorization tasks, people tend to classify other individuals as more likely to belong to the out-group than the in-group (In-group Overexclusion Effect, IOE) when lacking diagnostic information, probably with the aim of protecting in-group integrity. Here, we explored the role of Warmth and Competence in group-membership decisions by testing 62 participants in a social-categorization task consisting of 150 neutral faces. We assessed whether (i) Warmth and Competence ratings could predict the in-group/out-group categorization, and (ii) the reliance on these two dimensions differed in low-IOE vs. high-IOE participants. Data showed that high ratings of Warmth and Competence were necessary to categorize a face as in-group. Moreover, while low-IOE participants relied on Warmth, high-IOE participants relied on Competence. This finding suggests that the proneness to include/exclude unknown identities in/from one's own in-group is related to individual differences in the reliance on SCM social dimensions. Furthermore, the primacy of Warmth effect seems not to represent a universal phenomenon adopted in the context of social evaluatio

The impact of mindfulness meditation on social and moral behavior: Does mindfulness enhance other-oriented motivation or decrease monetary reward salience?

This perspective article provides an overview of the impact of mindfulness meditation (MM) on social and moral behavior. In mindfulness research, prosocial behavior has been operationalized as helping behavior, altruistic redistribution of funds, reparative behavior, or monetary donation. Studies concerning moral behavior are still scarce. Despite inconsistent evidence, several studies found a beneficial effect of mindfulness on prosocial outcomes (i.e., a higher propensity to spend or give away money for the sake of other individuals). However, since the employed tasks were reward-based, participants’ decisions also directly affected their own payoff by reducing it. Crucially, MM also affects self-control circuitry and reduces reward-seeking behaviors and reward salience by making rewards less tempting. We have discussed evidence suggesting how challenging it may be to dissociate the specific weight of enhanced other-oriented motivation from one of the decreased monetary reward salience in explaining meditators’ behavior. Future higher-quality studies are needed to address this open issue

The path of dishonesty: identification of mental processes with electrical neuroimaging.

Much research finds that lying takes longer than truth-telling. Yet, the source of this response time difference remains elusive. Here, we assessed the spatiotemporal evolution of electrical brain activity during honesty and dishonesty in 150 participants using a sophisticated electrical neuroimaging approach-the microstate approach. This uniquely positioned us to identify and contrast the entire chain of mental processes involved during honesty and dishonesty. Specifically, we find that the response time difference is the result of an additional late-occurring mental process, unique to dishonest decisions, interrupting the antecedent mental processing. We suggest that this process inhibits the activation of the truth, thus permitting the execution of the lie. These results advance our understanding of dishonesty and clarify existing theories about the role of increased cognitive load. More broadly, we demonstrate the vast potential of our approach to illuminate the temporal organization of mental processes involved in decision-making

To trust or not to trust: a thermal imaging study on the effects of social exclusion

While emotion regulation seems to be well understood in the individual domain, information about the inherent link between emotion regulation and social contexts is lacking. In this study, we investigated the behavioral and physiological consequences of social exclusion in control participants (n = 16) and in patients (n = 16) with psoriasis, a skin disease known to be often accompanied with emotion regulation deficits. Firstly, participants faced the social induction phase by playing the Cyberball Game in which they were excluded or included by other players. Then participants played the Trust Game (TG) in the role of investor. All participants took part in both exclusion and inclusion social inductions and played the TG twice. In the TG, the investor has to decide how much of € 10 to invest on familiar and unfamiliar players. The familiar (bad vs. good) players were the same players previously encountered in the Cyberball Game. Participants’ face temperature (peri-orbital region) during the task was measured by means of functional Infrared Thermal Imaging (fITI). Face temperature in this area is known to reflect the activation of the sympathetic system. We tested whether the social inclusion vs. exclusion affected participants’ trust toward other players by entering mean investments into a Repeated Measures 2 (social induction: exclusion, inclusion) × 2 (player: familiar, unfamiliar) ANOVA. We found a statistically significant social induction × player interaction (F [1, 31] = 4.78, p < .04). A post hoc LSD test showed that unfamiliar players were trusted significantly more after the social exclusion phase respect to the inclusion one (p < .02); in fact, after social inclusion, participants tended to trust more familiar participants respect to the unfamiliar ones (p < .09). A linear regression was calculated to predict a behavioral index (i.e. the differential investment on familiar minus unfamiliar players) based on mean peri-orbital temperature during social exclusion induction. A significant regression equation was found (F [1, 31] = 7.16, p < .012, R2 = .20), suggesting that the higher the activation of the sympathetic system during social exclusion, the more participants tended to trust the unfamiliar with respect to the familiar players who previously excluded them. Interestingly, a correlation analysis showed that the behavioral adjustments triggered by peri-orbital temperature increase during social exclusion were present only in the control group (r = .535, p < .05), while patients’ decisions were not influenced by temperature change (r = .29, p = .27). This result suggests that sympathetic activation during painful social interactions is pivotal in order to learn whether to trust others and to adjust future behavior consequently. This mechanism is probably deficient in patients with emotion regulation deficits

To trust or not to trust: a thermal imaging study on the effects of social exclusion

While emotion regulation seems to be well understood in the individual domain, information about the inherent link between emotion regulation and social contexts is lacking. In this study, we investigated the behavioral and physiological consequences of social exclusion in control participants (n = 16) and in patients (n = 16) with psoriasis, a skin disease known to be often accompanied with emotion regulation deficits. Firstly, participants faced the social induction phase by playing the Cyberball Game in which they were excluded or included by other players. Then participants played the Trust Game (TG) in the role of investor. All participants took part in both exclusion and inclusion social inductions and played the TG twice. In the TG, the investor has to decide how much of € 10 to invest on familiar and unfamiliar players. The familiar (bad vs. good) players were the same players previously encountered in the Cyberball Game. Participants’ face temperature (peri-orbital region) during the task was measured by means of functional Infrared Thermal Imaging (fITI). Face temperature in this area is known to reflect the activation of the sympathetic system. We tested whether the social inclusion vs. exclusion affected participants’ trust toward other players by entering mean investments into a Repeated Measures 2 (social induction: exclusion, inclusion) × 2 (player: familiar, unfamiliar) ANOVA. We found a statistically significant social induction × player interaction (F [1, 31] = 4.78, p < .04). A post hoc LSD test showed that unfamiliar players were trusted significantly more after the social exclusion phase respect to the inclusion one (p < .02); in fact, after social inclusion, participants tended to trust more familiar participants respect to the unfamiliar ones (p < .09). A linear regression was calculated to predict a behavioral index (i.e. the differential investment on familiar minus unfamiliar players) based on mean peri-orbital temperature during social exclusion induction. A significant regression equation was found (F [1, 31] = 7.16, p < .012, R2 = .20), suggesting that the higher the activation of the sympathetic system during social exclusion, the more participants tended to trust the unfamiliar with respect to the familiar players who previously excluded them. Interestingly, a correlation analysis showed that the behavioral adjustments triggered by peri-orbital temperature increase during social exclusion were present only in the control group (r = .535, p < .05), while patients’ decisions were not influenced by temperature change (r = .29, p = .27). This result suggests that sympathetic activation during painful social interactions is pivotal in order to learn whether to trust others and to adjust future behavior consequently. This mechanism is probably deficient in patients with emotion regulation deficits

To Trust Or Not To Trust: A Thermal Imaging Study On The Effects Of Social Exclusion On Decision Making

Abstract: Regulating emotions elicited by others is pivotal for social interaction. We investigated behavioural and physiological consequences of social exclusion and found that sympathetic activation triggered by ostracizing interactions is essential to learn whether to trust others and to adjust future behaviour consequently. This mechanism seems deficient in low-regulators. Supporting Summary: While emotion regulation seems to be well understood in the individual domain, information about the inherent link between emotion regulation and social contexts is meager. Here, we investigated the behavioural and physiological consequences of social exclusion in control participants (N=17) and in patients (N=16) with psoriasis, a skin disease known to be often accompanied with emotion regulation deficits. Firstly, participants faced the social induction phase by playing the Cyberball Game in which they were excluded or included by other players. Then participants played the Trust Game (TG) in the role of investor. All participants took part in both exclusion and inclusion social inductions and played the TG twice. In the TG, the investor has to decide how much of €10 to invest on familiar and unfamiliar players. The familiar (bad vs good) players were the same players previously encountered in the Cyberball Game. Participants' face temperature (peri-orbital region) during the Cyberball Game was measured by means of functional infrared thermal imaging (fITI). Face temperature in this area is known to reflect the activation of the sympathetic system. We tested whether the social inclusion vs. exclusion affected participants’ trust toward other players by entering mean investments into a Repeated Measures 2 (social induction: exclusion, inclusion) x 2 (player: familiar, unfamiliar) mixed ANOVA. Group (patient, control) was entered as a between-subjects factor and peri-orbital temperature index (i.e., temperature during social exclusion minus temperature during social inclusion) as covariate in the model. We found a statistically significant main effect of social induction, qualified by a significant interaction with peri-orbital temperature index (F(1,30) = 5.00, p = .03, partial eta-squared = .32) and also a social induction x player two-way interaction (F(1,30) = 5.39, p = .03, partial eta-squared = .15). A post hoc Bonferroni test showed that unfamiliar players were trusted significantly more after the social exclusion phase (during which participants were excluded from familiar players) respect to the inclusion one (p = .04) (during which participants were included by familiar players). A linear regression was calculated to predict a behavioural index (i.e., the differential investment on unfamiliar players taking place during social exclusion vs inclusion) based on peri-orbital temperature index. A significant regression equation was found (F(1,30) = 7.40, p = .01, R2 = .20), suggesting that trust for unfamiliar players is driven by enhanced activation of the sympathetic system during social exclusion vs inclusion phase. Interestingly, a correlation analysis showed that the behavioural adjustments triggered by peri-orbital temperature increase during social exclusion were present only in the control group (r = .54, p = .03), while patients’ decisions were not influenced by temperature change (r = .24, p = .37). This result suggests that sympathetic activation during painful social interactions is pivotal in order to learn whether to trust others and to adjust future behaviour consequently. This mechanism seems deficient in patients with emotion regulation deficits

What if versus probabilistic scenarios: a neuroscientific analysis

Nowadays financial products are extremely complex and the decision to choose among them could represent a stressful event for individuals. Information related to the risk/return profile of an investment instrument and the way it is represented (framing effect) are crucial in determining the outcome of individuals’ decisions. In this paper we consider two schemes that can be employed to represent the random performances of risky financial products, namely the what if and probabilistic scenarios frames. This paper aims at measuring the impact of the two above mentioned schemes on investors’ decision accuracy and peripheral nervous system activity. In particular, the goal is twofold: (1) to investigate the behavioural and physiological indexes elicited in the decision-making process of investors who have to choose on the basis of the two different schemes; (2) to investigate on the effect of time pressure when probabilistic scenarios or what if frames are used. The first point is investigated by means of a decision making task, while the second one by means of a perceptual one