title: Brain networks of social comparison.
abstract: Social comparison, that is, the process of comparing oneself to other people, is a ubiquitous social cognitive mechanism; however, so far its neural correlates have remained unknown. The present study tested the hypothesis that social comparisons are supported by partly dissociated networks, depending on whether the dimension under comparison concerns a physical or a psychological attribute. We measured brain activity with functional MRI, whereas participants were comparing their own height or intelligence to that of individuals they personally know. Height comparisons were associated with higher activity in a frontoparietal network involved in spatial and numerical cognition. Conversely, intelligence comparisons recruited a network of midline areas that have been previously implicated in the attribution of mental states to oneself and others (Theory of mind). These findings suggest that social comparisons rely on diverse domain-specific mechanisms rather than on one unitary process.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, UK. gkedia@uni-koeln.de
authors: Gayannée
authors: G
authors: Kedia
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Lindner
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Mussweiler
authors: Niklas
authors: N
authors: Ihssen
authors: David E J
authors: DE
authors: Linden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007360:Intelligence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen