Informing others is associated with behavioral and neural signatures of value

Diana I. Tamir; Jamil Zaki; Jason P. Mitchell

doi:10.1037/xge0000122

Informing others is associated with behavioral and neural signatures of value

Diana I. Tamir, Jamil Zaki, Jason P. Mitchell

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the many proclivities of our species is the drive to share information with others. What drives this unusual proclivity for propagating knowledge? Here, we test a common prediction made by recent theories in this domain: that individuals value opportunities to inform others. Two sets of studies supported this hypothesis. Behaviorally, individuals gave up money to inform others, even in "minimalistic" settings under which informing neither improved participants' reputation nor provided material benefits to information recipients. Neurally, opportunities to inform others engaged brain regions associated with motivation and reward, including the nucleus accumbens and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Together, these findings suggest that people place intrinsic value on sharing information with others.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1114-1123
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Volume	144
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000122
State	Published - Dec 1 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
General Psychology
Developmental Neuroscience

Keywords

Altruism
Functional MRI
Informing
Reward

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10.1037/xge0000122

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AU - Zaki, Jamil

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AB - One of the many proclivities of our species is the drive to share information with others. What drives this unusual proclivity for propagating knowledge? Here, we test a common prediction made by recent theories in this domain: that individuals value opportunities to inform others. Two sets of studies supported this hypothesis. Behaviorally, individuals gave up money to inform others, even in "minimalistic" settings under which informing neither improved participants' reputation nor provided material benefits to information recipients. Neurally, opportunities to inform others engaged brain regions associated with motivation and reward, including the nucleus accumbens and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Together, these findings suggest that people place intrinsic value on sharing information with others.

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Informing others is associated with behavioral and neural signatures of value

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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