Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Soc Neurosci. 2010;5(1):118-28. doi: 10.1080/17470910903202666. Epub 2009 Oct 22.
Despite evidence that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity is related to social exclusion, rejection and unfairness, evidence that medial frontal negativity (MFN), which has its source in the ACC, reflects these constructs remains unforthcoming. In the present study, subjects participated as recipients in an ultimatum game, while we recorded their electro-encephalogram (EEG). Participants responded to fair and unfair offers from different human proposers. In addition, participants rated themselves on a measure evaluating their concern for fairness. Results showed that MFN amplitude was more pronounced for unfair offers compared to fair offers. Moreover, this effect was shown to be most pronounced for subjects with high concerns for fairness. Our findings suggest that the MFN not only reflects whether outcomes match expectations, but also reflects whether the process by which these outcomes came about matches a social or even a moral norm. In addition, the present results suggest that people in bargaining situations are not only concerned with their own outcomes, but are also concerned with the fairness of the process that resulted in these outcomes.
尽管有证据表明前扣带皮层（ACC）的活动与社会排斥、拒绝和不公平有关，但内侧额极（MFN）的活动——其源头在 ACC——是否反映了这些结构仍然没有定论。在本研究中，被试作为接受者参与了最后通牒博弈，同时我们记录了他们的脑电图（EEG）。参与者对不同人类提议者的公平和不公平的提议做出反应。此外，参与者根据一项衡量对公平关注程度的措施对自己进行了评价。结果表明，与公平提议相比，不公平提议的 MFN 幅度更为明显。此外，对于对公平关注程度较高的受试者来说，这种效果最为明显。我们的研究结果表明，MFN 不仅反映了结果是否符合预期，还反映了这些结果产生的过程是否符合社会甚至道德规范。此外，本研究结果表明，在讨价还价的情况下，人们不仅关心自己的结果，还关心导致这些结果的过程是否公平。
