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Title: Neural Correlates of Gender Differences in Reputation Building

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [1]
  1. University of Turin (Italy)
  2. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Linnaeus University, Vaxjo (Sweden)
  4. University of Turin (Italy); CCS-fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Turin (Italy)
  5. CCS-fMRI, Koelliker Hospital, Turin (Italy)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Gender differences in cooperative choices and their neural correlates were investigated in a situation where reputation represented a crucial issue. Males and females were involved in an economic exchange (trust game) where economic and reputational payoffs had to be balanced in order to increase personal welfare. At the behavioral level, females showed a stronger reaction to negative reputation judgments that led to higher cooperation than males, measured by back transfers in the game. The neuroanatomical counterpart of this gender difference was found within the reward network (engaged in producing expectations of positive results) and reputation-related brain networks, such as the self-control network (engaged in strategically resisting the temptation to defect) and the mentalizing network (engaged in thinking about how one is viewed by others), in which the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the medial (M)PFC respectively play a crucial role. Furthermore, both DLPFC and MPFC activity correlated with the amount of back transfer, as well as with the personality dimensions assessed with the Big-Five Questionnaire (BFQ-2). Males, according to their greater DLPFC recruitment and their higher level of the BFQ-2 subscale of Dominance, were more focused on implementing a profit-maximizing strategy, pursuing this target irrespectively of others’ judgments. On the contrary, females, according to their greater MPFC activity and their lower level of Dominance, were more focused on the reputation per se and not on the strategic component of reputation building. These findings shed light on the sexual dimorphism related to cooperative behavior and its neural correlates.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Regione Piemonte, Human and Social Science
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396; 229/DB1300
OSTI ID:
1627728
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Vol. 9, Issue 9; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

"Someone told me": Preemptive reputation protection in communication journal April 2019
Synchronous brain activity during cooperative exchange depends on gender of partner: A fNIRS-based hyperscanning study: Synchronous Brain Activities journal February 2015

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Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
decision making
behavior
functional magnetic resonance imaging
prefrontal cortex
metaanalysis
neural networks
game theory
neostriatum