title: How friendly is a little friendly competition? Evidence of self-interest and empathy during outcome evaluation.
abstract: Although previous studies have shown that brain potentials recorded from passive observers differ when gambling-task outcomes are delivered to a friend or a stranger, it is unclear how these outcome evaluations are reflected in brain potentials during active competition. The present study recorded event-related potentials (ERP) from 16 normal adults playing an interactive gambling task against both a friend and a stranger. In this task, the P300 was modulated by the feedback valence (gain or loss) and the nature of the interpersonal relationship, such that it was larger when competing against strangers. Regression analyses indicated that empathy to another's personal distress was negatively related to P300 amplitudes when competing against friends. The dFRN, defined as the difference between losses and gains, varied with Perspective-Taking when competing against friends, such that smaller dFRN amplitudes were correlated with increased Perspective-Taking. The modulation of ERP components indicates that interpersonal relationships may influence outcome evaluations in competitive situations. Correlations between ERP components and empathy measures also provide preliminary support of a relationship between one's empathy and the processing of outcomes during competition against a friend.
authors.affiliation: Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, China. Electronic address: wangeven@126.com.
authors.forename: Yiwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, United States. Electronic address: kroberts@psych.udel.edu.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China.
authors.forename: Chongde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, United States.
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Simons
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004465:Economic Competition; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Competition; ERP; Empathy; FRN; Interpersonal relationship; Outcome evaluation; P300; Perspective-Taking