Acceptance, rejection, and the social brain in adolescence : toward a neuroscience of peer relations

Will, G.J. (2015)

Doctoral Thesis

Children and adolescents who are chronically rejected by their peers suffer from widespread impairments in daily life, ranging from poor academic achievement and dropping out of school, to delinquency and the development of mental health problems. To gain a better understanding of the developmental processes that give rise to such impairments, the research described in this dissertation examined the neurocognitive underpinnings of processes that play a role in the emergence and maintenance of peer group rejection and acceptance. The first part of this dissertation focuses on neurocognitive processes underlying reactions to social exclusion. The second part concentrates on the neurocognitive processes involved in sharing valuable resources, based on the widely established finding that frequent displays of prosocial behaviors, such as cooperating, helping, and sharing, are associated with both gaining and maintaining acceptance among peers. The empirical work in this dissertation demonstrates that a developmental cognitive neuroscience approach provides unique insights into the emotional, regulatory, and socio-cognitive processes thought to play a role in the emergence and maintenance of peer group acceptance and rejection.

• Social exclusion
• Prosocial behavior
• Perspective-taking
• Peer status
• fMRI
• Fairness
• Development

• All authors: Will, G.J.
• Supervisor: Crone, E.A.
• Co-supervisor: Güroğlu, B.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2015-06-04
• ISBN (print): 9789064648779