ABSTRACT

This research investigated whether the medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which is known to code the value of various rewards, is involved in the relationship value recalibration process. Previous research suggests that people upregulate the relationship value of a specific friend in response to the friend’s commitment signals. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study (Study 1), participants imagined receiving high-cost commitment signals, low-cost commitment signals, or no signals from a particular friend. Participants’ subjective rating of the relationship value upregulation was positively correlated with medial OFC activity. Subtraction analyses showed that high-cost commitment signals engaged the medial OFC more than did signal failures. An auxiliary analysis revealed that medial OFC activity in response to low-cost commitment signals was negatively correlated with loneliness. To follow-up these findings, we conducted an online vignette study (Study 2), in which participants rated the relationship value of a real friend before and after imagining receiving a series of low-cost commitment signals from that friend. Corroborating the upregulation hypothesis, perceived relationship value significantly increased after imagining a series of commitment signals. This effect was weaker among individuals high in loneliness.

摘要

这项研究调查了内侧眶额叶皮层 (OFC) 是否参与了关系价值的重新校准过程。先前的研究表明，人们会根据朋友的承诺信号上调特定朋友的关系价值。在一项功能性磁共振成像研究（研究 1）中，参与者想象收到来自特定朋友的高成本承诺信号、低成本承诺信号或不接收信号。参与者对关系值上调的主观评价与内侧 OFC 活动呈正相关。减法分析表明，高成本的承诺信号比信号失败更能吸引内侧 OFC。一项辅助分析显示，响应低成本承诺信号的内侧 OFC 活动与孤独感呈负相关。为了跟进这些发现，我们进行了一项在线小插曲研究（研究 2），参与者在想象收到来自该朋友的一系列低成本承诺信号之前和之后评估该朋友的关系价值。证实了上调假设，在想象一系列承诺信号后，感知关系价值显着增加。这种效果在孤独感高的个体中较弱。参与者在想象收到来自该朋友的一系列低成本承诺信号之前和之后评估该朋友的关系价值。证实了上调假设，在想象一系列承诺信号后，感知关系价值显着增加。这种效果在孤独感高的个体中较弱。参与者在想象收到来自该朋友的一系列低成本承诺信号之前和之后评估该朋友的关系价值。证实了上调假设，在想象一系列承诺信号后，感知关系价值显着增加。这种效果在孤独感高的个体中较弱。