Social conformity is associated with inter-trial electroencephalogram variability

Zhang, Haoming1,2; Zhang, Kunkun3; Zhang, Ziqi3; Zhao, Mingqi4; Liu, Quanying5; Luo, Wenbo3,6; Wu, Haiyan1,2,7,8

2023-05-01

10.1111/nyas.14983

ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES   Impact Factor & Quartile

0077-8923

1749-6632

Human society encompasses diverse social influences, and people experience events differently and may behave differently under such influence, including in forming an impression of others. However, little is known about the underlying neural relevance of individual differences in following others' opinions or social norms. In the present study, we designed a series of tasks centered on social influence to investigate the underlying relevance between an individual's degree of social conformity and their neural variability. We found that individual differences under the social influence are associated with the amount of inter-trial electroencephalogram (EEG) variability over multiple stages in a conformity task (making face judgments and receiving social influence). This association was robust in the alpha band over the frontal and occipital electrodes for negative social influence. We also found that inter-trial EEG variability is a very stable, participant-driven internal state measurement and could be interpreted as mindset instability. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that higher inter-trial EEG variability may be related to higher mindset instability, which makes participants more vulnerable to exposed external social influence. The present study provides a novel approach that considers the stability of one's endogenous neural signal during tasks and links it to human social behaviors.

decision change inter-trial EEG variability neural representation social conformity

SCI

English

Others

Science & Technology - Other Topics

Multidisciplinary Sciences

WOS:000952052500001

WILEY

BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY ; CLINICAL MEDICINE ; MULTIDISCIPLINARY ; MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & GENETICS

Web of Science

1.Univ Macau, Ctr Cognit & Brain Sci, Macau, Peoples R China
2.Univ Macau, Dept Psychol, Macau, Peoples R China
3.Liaoning Normal Univ, Res Ctr Brain & Cognit Neurosci, Dalian, Peoples R China
4.Katholieke Univ Leuven, Res Ctr Motor Control & Neuroplast, Leuven, Belgium
5.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Shenzhen Key Lab Smart Healthcare Engn, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
6.Liaoning Normal Univ, Res Ctr Brain & Cognit Neurosci, Dalian 116029, Peoples R China
7.Univ Macau, Ctr Cognit & Brain Sci, Macau 999078, Peoples R China
8.Univ Macau, Dept Psychol, Macau 999078, Peoples R China

Zhang, Haoming,Zhang, Kunkun,Zhang, Ziqi,et al. Social conformity is associated with inter-trial electroencephalogram variability[J]. ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,2023,1523(1).

Zhang, Haoming.,Zhang, Kunkun.,Zhang, Ziqi.,Zhao, Mingqi.,Liu, Quanying.,...&Wu, Haiyan.(2023).Social conformity is associated with inter-trial electroencephalogram variability.ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,1523(1).

Zhang, Haoming,et al."Social conformity is associated with inter-trial electroencephalogram variability".ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1523.1(2023).