A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action
People selectively help others based on perceptions of their merit or need. Here, we develop a neurocomputational account of how these social perceptions translate into social choice. Using a novel fMRI social perception task, we show that both merit and need perceptions recruited the brain’s social...
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2025-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/92539 |
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| author | Lisa M Bas Ian D Roberts Cendri A Hutcherson Anita Tusche |
| author_facet | Lisa M Bas Ian D Roberts Cendri A Hutcherson Anita Tusche |
| author_sort | Lisa M Bas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | People selectively help others based on perceptions of their merit or need. Here, we develop a neurocomputational account of how these social perceptions translate into social choice. Using a novel fMRI social perception task, we show that both merit and need perceptions recruited the brain’s social inference network. A behavioral computational model identified two non-exclusive mechanisms underlying variance in social perceptions: a consistent tendency to perceive others as meritorious/needy (bias) and a propensity to sample and integrate normative evidence distinguishing high from low merit/need in other people (sensitivity). Variance in people’s merit (but not need) bias and sensitivity independently predicted distinct aspects of altruism in a social choice task completed months later. An individual’s merit bias predicted context-independent variance in people’s overall other-regard during altruistic choice, biasing people toward prosocial actions. An individual’s merit sensitivity predicted context-sensitive discrimination in generosity toward high and low merit recipients by influencing other- and self-regard during altruistic decision-making. This context-sensitive perception–action link was associated with activation in the right temporoparietal junction. Together, these findings point toward stable, biologically based individual differences in perceptual processes related to abstract social concepts like merit, and suggest that these differences may have important behavioral implications for an individual’s tendency toward favoritism or discrimination in social settings. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dfa1ab2337744f14a62e7bc960b6d29e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
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| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-dfa1ab2337744f14a62e7bc960b6d29e2025-08-20T02:17:33ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-04-011210.7554/eLife.92539A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social actionLisa M Bas0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0376-0059Ian D Roberts1Cendri A Hutcherson2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4441-4809Anita Tusche3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4180-8447Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Canada; Department of Marketing, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada; Center for Neuroscience Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, CanadaPeople selectively help others based on perceptions of their merit or need. Here, we develop a neurocomputational account of how these social perceptions translate into social choice. Using a novel fMRI social perception task, we show that both merit and need perceptions recruited the brain’s social inference network. A behavioral computational model identified two non-exclusive mechanisms underlying variance in social perceptions: a consistent tendency to perceive others as meritorious/needy (bias) and a propensity to sample and integrate normative evidence distinguishing high from low merit/need in other people (sensitivity). Variance in people’s merit (but not need) bias and sensitivity independently predicted distinct aspects of altruism in a social choice task completed months later. An individual’s merit bias predicted context-independent variance in people’s overall other-regard during altruistic choice, biasing people toward prosocial actions. An individual’s merit sensitivity predicted context-sensitive discrimination in generosity toward high and low merit recipients by influencing other- and self-regard during altruistic decision-making. This context-sensitive perception–action link was associated with activation in the right temporoparietal junction. Together, these findings point toward stable, biologically based individual differences in perceptual processes related to abstract social concepts like merit, and suggest that these differences may have important behavioral implications for an individual’s tendency toward favoritism or discrimination in social settings.https://elifesciences.org/articles/92539altruismsocial perceptiondrift-diffusion modelfMRImentalizingsocial inferences |
| spellingShingle | Lisa M Bas Ian D Roberts Cendri A Hutcherson Anita Tusche A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action eLife altruism social perception drift-diffusion model fMRI mentalizing social inferences |
| title | A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action |
| title_full | A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action |
| title_fullStr | A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action |
| title_full_unstemmed | A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action |
| title_short | A neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action |
| title_sort | neurocomputational account of the link between social perception and social action |
| topic | altruism social perception drift-diffusion model fMRI mentalizing social inferences |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/92539 |
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