Jin Jia, Fan Bonai, Dai Shenyi, Ma Qingguo
Business School, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China; Academy of Neuroeconomics and Neuromanagement at Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
Business School, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China; Academy of Neuroeconomics and Neuromanagement at Ningbo University, Ningbo, China; School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Neurosci Lett. 2017 Feb 15;640:130-135. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.01.037. Epub 2017 Jan 19.
Although it is well known that attractiveness-based impressions affect the labor market, election outcomes and many other social activities, little is known about the role physical attractiveness plays in financial transactions. With the development of online finance, peer-to-peer lending has become one of the most important ways in which businesses or individuals raise capital. However, because of information asymmetry, the lender must decide whether or not to lend money to a stranger based on limited information, resulting in their decision being influenced by many other factors. In the current study, we investigated how potential borrowers' facial attractiveness influenced lenders' attitudes toward borrowers' repayment behavior at the brain level by using event-related potentials. At the priming stage, photos of attractive borrowers induced smaller N200 amplitude than photos of unattractive borrowers. Meanwhile, at the feedback stage, compared with the condition of repaying on time, breach of repayment from unattractive borrowers induced larger feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitude, which was a frontal-central negative deflection and would be enhanced by the unexpected outcome. Furthermore, smaller P300 amplitude was also elicited by the condition of not repaying on time. These differences in the FRN and P300 amplitudes were not observed between negative and positive feedback from attractive borrowers. Therefore, our findings suggest that the beauty premium phenomenon is present in online peer-to-peer lending and that lenders were more tolerant toward attractive borrowers' dishonest behavior.
尽管基于吸引力的印象会影响劳动力市场、选举结果以及许多其他社会活动，这是众所周知的，但人们对身体吸引力在金融交易中所起的作用却知之甚少。随着网络金融的发展，点对点借贷已成为企业或个人筹集资金的最重要方式之一。然而，由于信息不对称，贷款人必须根据有限的信息决定是否向陌生人贷款，这导致他们的决定受到许多其他因素的影响。在当前的研究中，我们通过使用事件相关电位，研究了潜在借款人的面部吸引力如何在大脑层面影响贷款人对借款人还款行为的态度。在启动阶段，有吸引力的借款人的照片比无吸引力的借款人的照片诱发的N200波幅更小。同时，在反馈阶段，与按时还款的情况相比，无吸引力的借款人违约还款诱发的反馈相关负波（FRN）波幅更大，这是一种额中央负向偏转，并且会因意外结果而增强。此外，未按时还款的情况也诱发了较小的P300波幅。在有吸引力的借款人的正负反馈之间未观察到FRN和P300波幅的这些差异。因此，我们的研究结果表明，在线点对点借贷中存在美貌溢价现象，并且贷款人对有吸引力的借款人的不诚实行为更宽容。
