Koch Saskia B J, Tyborowska Anna, Niermann Hannah C M, Cillessen Antonius H N, Roelofs Karin, Bašnáková Jana, Toni Ivan, Stolk Arjen
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
NPJ Sci Learn. 2024 Aug 22;9(1):52. doi: 10.1038/s41539-024-00262-6.
Stereotypes can exert a powerful influence on our interactions with others, potentially leading to prejudice when factual evidence is ignored. Here, we identify neuroanatomical and developmental factors that influence the real-time integration of stereotypes and factual evidence during live social interactions. The study uses precisely quantified communicative exchanges in a longitudinal cohort of seventeen-year-olds followed since infancy, testing their ability to moderate stereotype tendencies toward children as contrary evidence accumulates. Our results indicate that the impact of stereotypes on communicative behavior is linked to individual variations in gray matter density and cortical thickness in the right anterior cingulate gyrus. In contrast, the ability to moderate stereotype tendencies is influenced by developmental exposure to social interactions during the initial years of life, beyond the effects of familial environment and later experiences. These findings pinpoint a key brain structure underlying stereotype tendencies and suggest that early-life social experiences have lasting consequences on how individuals integrate factual evidence in interpersonal communication.
刻板印象会对我们与他人的互动产生强大影响，当忽视事实证据时，可能会导致偏见。在此，我们确定了在实时社交互动中影响刻板印象与事实证据实时整合的神经解剖学和发育因素。该研究对自婴儿期起就进行跟踪的一组17岁青少年进行了精确量化的交流互动，测试他们在反证不断积累时调节对儿童刻板印象倾向的能力。我们的结果表明，刻板印象对交流行为的影响与右侧前扣带回灰质密度和皮质厚度的个体差异有关。相比之下，调节刻板印象倾向的能力受到生命最初几年社交互动的发育性暴露的影响，这超出了家庭环境和后期经历的影响。这些发现指出了刻板印象倾向背后的关键脑结构，并表明早期的社会经历会对个体在人际交流中整合事实证据的方式产生持久影响。
