Disconfirmation modulates the neural correlates of the false consensus effect: A parametric modulation approach

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Welborn, B. Locke and Lieberman, Matthew D. (2018) Disconfirmation modulates the neural correlates of the false consensus effect: A parametric modulation approach. Neuropsychologia, 121. pp. 1-10. ISSN 0028-3932

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Abstract

The false consensus effect (FCE) - the tendency to (erroneously) project our attitudes and opinions onto others - is an enduring bias in social reasoning with important societal implications. In this fMRI investigation, we examine the neural correlates of within-subject variation in consensus bias on a variety of social and political issues. Bias demonstrated a strong association with activity in brain regions implicated in self-related cognition, mentalizing, and valuation. Importantly, however, recruitment of these regions predicted consensus bias only in the presence of social disconfirmation, in the form of feedback discrepant with participants' own attitudes. These results suggest that the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying the tendency to project attitudes onto others are crucially moderated by motivational factors, including the desire to affirm the normativity of one's own position. This research complements social psychological theorizing about the factors contributing to the FCE, and further emphasizes the role of motivated cognition in social reasoning.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	fmri,social neuroscience,false consensus effect,motivated cognition,attitudes,parametric modulations
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Social Cognition Research Group Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Cognition, Action and Perception
Related URLs:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2019 16:30
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 04:27
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/69786
DOI:	10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.09.018

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