TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of cultural priming on social behavior and EEG correlates of self-processing

AU - Knyazev, Gennady G.

AU - Merkulova, Ekaterina A.

AU - Savostyanov, Alexander N.

AU - Bocharov, Andrey V.

AU - Saprigyn, Alexander E.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Knyazev, Merkulova, Savostyanov, Bocharov and Saprigyn.

PY - 2018/10/8

Y1 - 2018/10/8

N2 - Humans are social beings and the self is inevitably conceptualized in terms of social environment. The degree to which the self is perceived as fundamentally similar or fundamentally different from other people is modulated by cultural stereotypes, such as collectivism and individualism. These stereotypes are not hardwired in our brains and individuals differ in the degree to which they adopt the attitudes that define their culture. Moreover, individuals can acquire multiple sets of cultural knowledge and, depending on the context, either individualistic or collectivistic cultural mindset could be activated. In this study, we used cultural priming techniques to activate either individualistic or collectivistic mindset and investigated the association between source-level EEG connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) and spontaneous self-related thoughts in the subsequent resting state. Afterward, participants performed a social interaction task, in which they were allowed to choose between friendly, avoidant, or aggressive behavior. After collectivism priming, self-related thoughts were associated with increased connectivity of DMN with the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), which is involved in taking the perspective of others and is more active in representatives of collectivistic cultures, whereas after individualism priming they were associated with increased connectivity with the temporal pole, which is involved in self/other discrimination and is more active in representatives of individualistic cultures. Individual differences in the intensity of post-priming self-related thoughts and the strength of DMN-temporal pole connectivity predicted individual differences in behavior during the social interaction task, with individualistic mindset predisposing to more friendly and trustful social behavior.

AB - Humans are social beings and the self is inevitably conceptualized in terms of social environment. The degree to which the self is perceived as fundamentally similar or fundamentally different from other people is modulated by cultural stereotypes, such as collectivism and individualism. These stereotypes are not hardwired in our brains and individuals differ in the degree to which they adopt the attitudes that define their culture. Moreover, individuals can acquire multiple sets of cultural knowledge and, depending on the context, either individualistic or collectivistic cultural mindset could be activated. In this study, we used cultural priming techniques to activate either individualistic or collectivistic mindset and investigated the association between source-level EEG connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) and spontaneous self-related thoughts in the subsequent resting state. Afterward, participants performed a social interaction task, in which they were allowed to choose between friendly, avoidant, or aggressive behavior. After collectivism priming, self-related thoughts were associated with increased connectivity of DMN with the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), which is involved in taking the perspective of others and is more active in representatives of collectivistic cultures, whereas after individualism priming they were associated with increased connectivity with the temporal pole, which is involved in self/other discrimination and is more active in representatives of individualistic cultures. Individual differences in the intensity of post-priming self-related thoughts and the strength of DMN-temporal pole connectivity predicted individual differences in behavior during the social interaction task, with individualistic mindset predisposing to more friendly and trustful social behavior.

KW - Collectivism

KW - Connectivity

KW - Default-mode network

KW - EEG

KW - Individualism

KW - Priming

KW - Social behavior

KW - Temporoparietal junction

KW - PERSONALITY

KW - priming

KW - HUMAN BRAIN

KW - individualism

KW - FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY

KW - SPONTANEOUS OSCILLATORY ACTIVITY

KW - default-mode network

KW - collectivism

KW - RIGHT TEMPOROPARIETAL JUNCTION

KW - connectivity

KW - CORTICAL CORRELATION STRUCTURE

KW - TEMPORAL POLE

KW - social behavior

KW - DEFAULT-MODE NETWORK

KW - COGNITION

KW - temporoparietal junction

KW - INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054886925&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00236

DO - 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00236

M3 - Article

C2 - 30349465

AN - SCOPUS:85054886925

VL - 12

SP - 236

JO - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

JF - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

SN - 1662-5153

M1 - 236

ER -