title: Individuals' attentional bias toward an envied target's name: an event-related potential study.
abstract: Individuals may pay more attention to information about envied targets. Thus, we further investigate the neural correlates underlying the cognitive processing of envy-related stimuli. Participants read information about target persons characterized by two domains: levels of possession and self-relevance of comparison. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were then recorded for three target names (high-envy, moderate-envy, and low-envy) while participants performed a three-stimulus oddball task. The results showed that high- and moderate-envy target names elicited larger P300 amplitudes than did low-envy target names. Specifically, high-envy target names elicited larger P300 amplitudes than did low-envy target names at the left, central, and right sites; in contrast, moderate-envy target names elicited larger P300 amplitudes than did low-envy target names only at central sites. P300 amplitudes did not differ between high- and moderate-envy target names. Thus, we extend previous behavioral findings by showing that people preferentially attend toward envy-related stimuli, as reflected by enhanced P300 amplitudes.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Yongfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Entao
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Junlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007578:Jealousy; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Attention; Envy; Event-related potential; P300