Park BoKyung, Young Liane
Boston College, United States of America.
J Exp Soc Psychol. 2020 Mar;87. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103916. Epub 2019 Nov 23.
Is ingroup bias associated with any benefit for maintaining close relationships? We examined the link between biased impression updating for ingroup members (i.e., friends) and relationship maintenance, as measured by the number of friends participants reported having (Studies 1 and 2). We also investigated the underlying neural basis of this possible effect, focusing on activity in the right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ), a region of the social brain involved in moral updating (Study 2). Specifically, we tested whether selectively discounting negative information about close others, manifested in reduced impression updating, and indexed by reduced RTPJ activity, is related to maintaining close relationships. In Study 1, after imagining a friend and a stranger performing different positive and negative behaviors, participants who were reluctant to update how close they felt to their friend (friend-closeness) reported having more friends in real life. In Study 2, participants were led to believe that a friend and a stranger gave money to them or took money away from them, while they were in the scanner. Participants who engaged in less negative updating of friends versus strangers reported having more friends. Participants who engaged in less friend-closeness updating also showed reduced RTPJ activity when their friend took money from them, and this neural pattern was associated with reports of having more friends. Together, these findings suggest that selectively discounting close others' negative behavior is linked to maintaining close relationships, indicating a potential social benefit of ingroup bias.
内群体偏见与维持亲密关系的任何益处有关联吗？我们研究了内群体成员（即朋友）的偏见性印象更新与关系维持之间的联系，关系维持通过参与者报告的朋友数量来衡量（研究1和研究2）。我们还研究了这种可能效应的潜在神经基础，重点关注右侧颞顶联合区（RTPJ）的活动，该区域是社会大脑中参与道德更新的一个区域（研究2）。具体而言，我们测试了选择性地忽略关于亲密他人的负面信息（表现为印象更新减少，并以内侧颞顶联合区活动减少为指标）是否与维持亲密关系有关。在研究1中，在想象一个朋友和一个陌生人分别做出不同的积极和消极行为之后，那些不愿意更新他们对朋友的亲密感（朋友亲密度）的参与者报告称在现实生活中有更多朋友。在研究2中，参与者在脑部扫描仪中时，被引导去相信一个朋友和一个陌生人给了他们钱或者从他们那里拿走了钱。与陌生人相比，对朋友的负面更新较少的参与者报告称有更多朋友。当朋友从他们那里拿走钱时，对朋友亲密度更新较少的参与者内侧颞顶联合区的活动也有所减少，并且这种神经模式与报告有更多朋友有关。总之，这些发现表明，选择性地忽略亲密他人的负面行为与维持亲密关系有关，这表明了内群体偏见潜在的社会效益。
