Despite decades of research from psychology, anthropology, biology and economics, how social preferences arise and vary across contexts remains an open question. In three empirical chapters, this... Show moreDespite decades of research from psychology, anthropology, biology and economics, how social preferences arise and vary across contexts remains an open question. In three empirical chapters, this dissertation addresses this gap using a variety of economic games and neuroimaging techniques that allow for a tractable modeling of cooperation and competition. Overall, findings suggest that while social preferences are linked to neural structure, they can also adapt to environmental factors as well as beliefs about interaction partners. This doctoral thesis shows that interacting with ingroup or outgroup members, taking decisions publicly or privately, and knowing whether we may interact with others again affect our cooperative behavior. These results highlight the importance of understanding how prosociality may be altered and lay the foundations for policy makers to further those social environments that encourage prosocial behavior. Show less
Human cooperation is an astonishing phenomenon, as only humans exhibit such immense scale, complexity, and frequency in working together with other people. In this dissertation, I investigate how... Show moreHuman cooperation is an astonishing phenomenon, as only humans exhibit such immense scale, complexity, and frequency in working together with other people. In this dissertation, I investigate how nonverbal communication between two individuals affects cooperative success as well as methodological challenges when examining this topic in laboratory settings. To answer these questions, the dissertation comprises four chapters presenting two theoretical and two methodological studies. In the first two chapters, I demonstrate the beneficial effect of face-to-face interactions on cooperation. I subsequently show that physiological synchrony emerges during social interactions and is positively associated with cooperative success. This finding suggests that physiological synchrony might be an underlying mechanism for the beneficial effect of face contact on cooperation. In the methodological studies, I place the tasks typically used to measure cooperation into the broader context of prosocial behavior. Furthermore, I address the statistical challenges inherent to measuring synchrony between interaction partners. The cardinal point of this dissertation is that interpersonal processes that we are not aware of play a fundamental role in how we behave towards other people. Addressing methodological challenges that come along with studying dyadic interactions will greatly advance our understanding of social phenomena that make us human so unique. Show less
Humans have a strong need for social connections, which provide social security and a feeling of social acceptance. Across adolescence, peers emerge as important social interaction partners to... Show moreHumans have a strong need for social connections, which provide social security and a feeling of social acceptance. Across adolescence, peers emerge as important social interaction partners to fulfill the need for social connections. In her dissertation, Elisabeth Schreuders highlights adolescence as a sensitive period for pursuing personal goals and social development through interactions with different familiar peers, particularly friends.Neural reward-related processes and neural processes underlying prosocial behavior were examined using longitudinal and ecologically valid research designs. The findings show involvement of changes in ventral striatum reward sensitivity from early to mid-adolescence in the motivation to pursue personally valued goals, including stable friendships. It was furthermore found that adults who to a lesser extent adhered to the social norm of behaving in a prosocial manner toward friends yielded greater activity in the supplementary motor area and anterior insula. Additionally, exploratory analyses showed that mid-adolescents with greater social competence yielded greater activity in several brain areas implicated in prosocial decision-making involving friends, including the putamen and superior parietal lobule. Together, these findings highlight adolescence as a sensitive period for self and social development, in which social motivations are reflected in interactions with different types of peers. Show less
Schreuders, E.; Klapwijk, E.T.; Will, G.J.; Güroğlu, B. 2018
Although the majority of our social interactions are with people we know, few studies have investigated the neural correlates of sharing valuable resources with familiar others. Using an... Show moreAlthough the majority of our social interactions are with people we know, few studies have investigated the neural correlates of sharing valuable resources with familiar others. Using an ecologically valid research paradigm, this functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the neural correlates of prosocial and selfish behavior in interactions with real-life friends and disliked peers in young adults. Participants (N = 27) distributed coins between themselves and another person, where they could make selfish choices that maximized their own gains or prosocial choices that maximized outcomes of the other. Participants were more prosocial toward friends and more selfish toward disliked peers. Individual prosociality levels toward friends were associated negatively with supplementary motor area and anterior insula activity. Further preliminary analyses showed that prosocial decisions involving friends were associated with heightened activity in the bilateral posterior temporoparietal junction, and selfish decisions involving disliked peers were associated with heightened superior temporal sulcus activity, which are brain regions consistently shown to be involved in mentalizing and perspective taking in prior studies. Further, activation of the putamen was observed during prosocial choices involving friends and selfish choices involving disliked peers. These findings provide insights into the modulation of neural processes that underlie prosocial behavior as a function of a positive or negative relationship with the interaction partner. Show less
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and individuals with conduct disorder (CD) are characterized by notable impairments in social-emotional functioning. In this thesis social-emotional... Show moreIndividuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and individuals with conduct disorder (CD) are characterized by notable impairments in social-emotional functioning. In this thesis social-emotional impairments were investigated using a cognitive neuroscience perspective (i.e., studying cognitive mechanisms and associated neural processes and structures). First, we directly compared groups of ASD and CD to test the hypothesized dissociable deficits in understanding other’s emotions in ASD in contrast to deficits in feeling other’s emotions in CD. This was done by comparing brain activity during basic emotion processing to assess cognitive and affective aspects of empathy, and by comparing white matter tracts that may underlie social-emotional processing. Second, we examined the neural processes at the level of social interactions in ASD and in CD, which has been overlooked by prior work, by studying interactive decision-making in response to other’s emotions. The results of the first part of this thesis show that different neural mechanisms underlie social-emotional difficulties in ASD and CD. Results of the second part imply that uncovering the neural correlates of interacting with others might lead to refined models of social-emotional deficits in ASD and CD that are different from previous accounts based on merely observing other’s emotions. Show less
Klapwijk, E.T.; Aghajani, M.; Lelieveld, G.J.; Lang, N.D.J. van; Popma, A.; Wee, N.J.A. van der; ... ; Vermeiren, R.R.J.M. 2017
One of the most prominent changes in adolescence is social reorientation. In other words, adolescents develop more intimate relationships with peers, they discover what it is like to be involved in... Show moreOne of the most prominent changes in adolescence is social reorientation. In other words, adolescents develop more intimate relationships with peers, they discover what it is like to be involved in a romantic relationship, and they take (social) risks by for example showing risky driving in the presence of friends. Given that social networks with peers become central elements in the adolescent’s life, investigating the role of individual differences related to the development of social reorientation seems highly relevant. This dissertation contributes to a better understanding of stability and change in social reorientation during adolescence by explaining the crucial role of empathy in social interactions from a brain and behavioral perspective. Future research can benefit from the presented studies by applying it to a more detailed analysis of individual differences in this important period in life, which may help to explain why some adolescents are successful in developing social competencies and relationships, whereas others experience difficulties. Eventually, this may lead to the development of interventions for youth who do not cope well with the social requirements from the environments, and help to improve their lives and the lives of individuals around them Show less
