Neural Correlates of Self-Affirmation

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session III
  In Interactive Paper Session: Information Systems Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Self-affirmation theory posits that people are motivated to maintain their sense of self-integrity and that threats to self-integrity are met with defensiveness. A class of interventions called self-affirmations can restore self-integrity when threatened by allowing individuals to reflect on sources of self-worth, such as core values. Many questions exist, however, about the underlying neural mechanisms associated with self-affirmation. We hypothesized that if affirmation exerts its effects through refocusing the individual on positive resources that offset the importance of threats, affirmation should be associated with increased activity within key regions of the brain’s valuation system, including the ventral striatum (VS) and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). Results of a region of interest analysis demonstrated that participants who were affirmed (relative to those who were unaffirmed) showed increased activity in VS and VMPFC when considering core values (compared to everyday activities), and that this effect was particularly strong for future orientated affirmations.

Authors

• Christopher Cascio, U of Pennsylvania

• Matthew Brook O'Donnell, U of Pennsylvania

• Frank Tinney, U of Michigan

• Victor Strecher, U of Michigan

• Matthew D Lieberman, U of California, Los Angeles

• Shelley Taylor, U of California, Los Angeles

• Emily Falk, University of Pennsylvania