Although automatic, gaze-following (GF) behavior has found to be modulated by the interaction between the ideology of the onlooker and the political affiliation of the observed model. Here, we investigated the neural correlates of in-group political affiliation using a GF paradigm. During fMRI scanning, right- and left-wing participants were requested to make saccadic movements with respect the instruction given by a central fixation point (FP). The FP was located on the face of Italian political leaders (Berlusconi, Bersani) or either opinion-makers (Vespa, Floris) (respectively of a centre-right or centre-left coalition) and gazing at the same (congruent) or different (incongruent) location. After scanning, we acquired a measure of personality Perceived Similarity and a Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) score for each participant. In keeping with our previous findings, behavioral data showed higher interference for in-group more than out-group political affiliation in right wing participants. Furthermore, the SDO scores predicted this in-group effect. The analysis of the Incongruence-related BOLD signal (IE: incongruent>congruent) revealed a significant activation of left Frontal Eye Field, right Supra-Marginal Gyrus (rSMG) and right Middle Cingulate Cortex (rMCC). ROI analysis showed that the in-group vs. out-group Perceived Similarity score predicted rSMG and rMCC activations associated with the IE of in-group. In other words, participants perceiving themselves as ‘similar to in-group’ demonstrated greater engagement of rSMG and rMCC as a function of IE for in-group personage. Finally, we found an interaction between SDO and the group in predicting the rSMG activity for the IE of in-group v. out-group personage.

Social Dominance Orientation and Perceived Similarity modulate the attracting power of the gaze of politicians on their electors. An fMRI study

Liuzza MT;
2014-01-01

Abstract

Although automatic, gaze-following (GF) behavior has found to be modulated by the interaction between the ideology of the onlooker and the political affiliation of the observed model. Here, we investigated the neural correlates of in-group political affiliation using a GF paradigm. During fMRI scanning, right- and left-wing participants were requested to make saccadic movements with respect the instruction given by a central fixation point (FP). The FP was located on the face of Italian political leaders (Berlusconi, Bersani) or either opinion-makers (Vespa, Floris) (respectively of a centre-right or centre-left coalition) and gazing at the same (congruent) or different (incongruent) location. After scanning, we acquired a measure of personality Perceived Similarity and a Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) score for each participant. In keeping with our previous findings, behavioral data showed higher interference for in-group more than out-group political affiliation in right wing participants. Furthermore, the SDO scores predicted this in-group effect. The analysis of the Incongruence-related BOLD signal (IE: incongruent>congruent) revealed a significant activation of left Frontal Eye Field, right Supra-Marginal Gyrus (rSMG) and right Middle Cingulate Cortex (rMCC). ROI analysis showed that the in-group vs. out-group Perceived Similarity score predicted rSMG and rMCC activations associated with the IE of in-group. In other words, participants perceiving themselves as ‘similar to in-group’ demonstrated greater engagement of rSMG and rMCC as a function of IE for in-group personage. Finally, we found an interaction between SDO and the group in predicting the rSMG activity for the IE of in-group v. out-group personage.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12317/58207
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