Neurobiological Correlates of Social Conformity and Independence During Mental Rotation
Abstract
Background When individual judgment conflicts with a group, the individual will often conform his judgment to that of the group. Conformity might arise at an executive level of decision making, or it might arise because the social setting alters the individual's perception of the world.Methods We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a task of mental rotation in the context of peer pressure to investigate the neural basis of individualistic and conforming behavior in the face of wrong information.Results Conformity was associated with functional changes in an occipital-parietal network, especially when the wrong information originated from other people. Independence was associated with increased amygdala and caudate activity, findings consistent with the assumptions of social norm theory about the behavioral saliency of standing alone.Conclusions These findings provide the first biological evidence for the involvement of perceptual and emotional processes during social conformity.
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Striatum activity is increased when participants give an objectively correct answer that disagrees with other people.
“Striatum activity is also increased when participants give an objectively correct answer that disagrees with other people49.”
From The social brain and reward: Social information processing in the human striatum (2014) · cites this paper as [49]
Other research shows that ventral striatum activity while viewing other people's evaluations is not necessarily related to social conformity, or even related to independence from conformity.
“Other research shows, however, that ventral striatum activity while viewing other people's evaluations is not necessarily related to social conformity 45, or even related to independence from conformity49.”
From The social brain and reward: Social information processing in the human striatum (2014) · cites this paper as [49]
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- Authors
- Berns, G. S., Chappelow, J., Zink, C. F., Pagnoni, G., Martin-Skurski, M. E., & Richards, J.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Berns, Gregory S.
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-08
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 245-253
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2003870436
- Cited by
- 300
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 35.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IRIS UNIMORE (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Keywords
- conformity, individualism, mental rotation, peer pressure, social norms theory, amygdala, caudate nucleus, emotional salience, perceptual processing, executive decision-making
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Internal-External Control, Judgment, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Mental Processes, Oxygen, Pain Measurement, Photic Stimulation, Social Conformity, Personal Autonomy
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