Huang Chengli, Zhou Zhiwei, Angus Douglas J, Sedikides Constantine, Kelley Nicholas J
Centre for Research on Self and Identity, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
School of Psychology, Bond University, Gold Coast 4229, Australia.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2025 Feb 12;20(1). doi: 10.1093/scan/nsaf016.
The reward responsivity hypothesis of self-control proposes that irrespective of self-control success, exercising self-control is aversive and engenders negative affect. To countermand this discomfort, reward-seeking behavior may be amplified after bouts of self-control, bringing individuals back to a mildly positive baseline state. Previous studies indicated that effort-an integral component of self-control-can increase reward responsivity. We sought to test and extend the reward responsivity hypothesis by asking if exercising self-control increases a neural marker of reward responsivity [Reward Positivity (RewP)] differentially for hedonic rewards or eudaimonic rewards. We instructed participants (N = 114) to complete a speeded reaction time task where they exercised self-control (incongruent Stroop trials) or not (congruent Stroop trials) and then had the opportunity to win money for themselves (hedonic rewards) or a charity (eudaimonic rewards) while electroencephalography was recorded. Consistent with the reward responsivity hypothesis, participants evinced a larger RewP after exercising self-control (vs. not exercising self-control). Participants also showed a larger RewP for hedonic over eudaimonic rewards. Self-control and reward type did not interactively modulate RewP, suggesting that self-control increases reward responsivity in a domain-general manner. The findings provide a neurophysiological mechanism for the reward responsivity hypothesis of self-control and promise to revitalize the relevant literature.
自我控制的奖励反应性假说提出，无论自我控制是否成功，进行自我控制都是令人厌恶的，并会产生负面影响。为了抵消这种不适感，在进行自我控制之后，寻求奖励的行为可能会增强，从而使个体回到轻度积极的基线状态。先前的研究表明，努力（自我控制的一个组成部分）可以提高奖励反应性。我们试图通过询问进行自我控制是否会对享乐性奖励或幸福感奖励以不同方式增加奖励反应性的神经标记物[奖励正性（RewP）]来检验和扩展奖励反应性假说。我们指示参与者（N = 114）完成一项快速反应时间任务，在该任务中他们进行自我控制（不一致的Stroop试验）或不进行自我控制（一致的Stroop试验），然后有机会为自己赢钱（享乐性奖励）或为慈善机构赢钱（幸福感奖励），同时记录脑电图。与奖励反应性假说一致，参与者在进行自我控制后（与未进行自我控制相比）表现出更大的RewP。参与者对享乐性奖励的RewP也比对幸福感奖励的更大。自我控制和奖励类型并未交互调节RewP，这表明自我控制以一种领域通用的方式提高奖励反应性。这些发现为自我控制的奖励反应性假说提供了一种神经生理机制，并有望振兴相关文献。
