Zhang Xiuping, Xu Maoyao, Yang Xiaohong, Yang Yufang
School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China.
Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.
Brain Sci. 2023 Jul 10;13(7):1053. doi: 10.3390/brainsci13071053.
During daily conversations, people prefer indirect replies in face-threatening situations. Existent studies have indicated that recipients tend to perceive the information conveyed by indirect replies as negative and emotion regions are engaged in indirect replies processing in face-threatening situations. In this study, we examined whether indirect replies can reduce recipients' experience of negative emotion and what are the underlying cerebral structures that may give rise to individual differences in the effectiveness of such replies in attenuating negative emotion. Behavior ratings and resting-stating functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) techniques were combined to explore these questions. We created dialogues expressing refusal or negative opinion with direct/indirect replies. Participants were asked to rate their emotional valence and arousal when they received such replies. The rating scores were used to correlate with spontaneous brain activity. Results showed that indirect replies indeed attenuated recipients' negative emotion experience. Moreover, the left caudate, the right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and the connectivity of rACC and left medial prefrontal cortex (lmPFC) were found to be positively correlated to individual differences in such emotion attenuation. Our findings provide direct empirical evidence for the face-saving function of indirect replies and reveal that the intrinsic brain activities of emotion network and theory of mind (ToM) network are related to individual differences in such emotion attenuation.
在日常对话中，人们在面临面子威胁的情境时更喜欢间接回应。现有研究表明，接受者倾向于将间接回应传达的信息视为负面信息，并且在面临面子威胁的情境中，情感区域会参与间接回应的处理过程。在本研究中，我们考察了间接回应是否能够减少接受者的负面情绪体验，以及哪些潜在的脑结构可能导致个体在这种回应减轻负面情绪有效性方面存在差异。我们结合行为评分和静息态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）技术来探究这些问题。我们创建了包含直接/间接回应的表达拒绝或负面意见的对话。要求参与者在收到此类回应时对自己的情绪效价和唤醒水平进行评分。评分分数用于与自发脑活动进行关联。结果表明，间接回应确实减轻了接受者的负面情绪体验。此外，发现左侧尾状核、右侧前扣带回皮质（rACC）以及rACC与左侧内侧前额叶皮质（lmPFC）的连接性与这种情绪减轻方面的个体差异呈正相关。我们的研究结果为间接回应的保全面子功能提供了直接的实证证据，并揭示了情绪网络和心理理论（ToM）网络的内在脑活动与这种情绪减轻方面的个体差异有关。
