Neural Precursors of Future Liking and its Mutual Reciprocation - Incite at Columbia University
-
Work
Neural Precursors of Future Liking and its Mutual Reciprocation
- Led by Columbia Labor Lab
- Published April 9, 2018
- Authors Zerubavel Noam Mark Anthony Hoffman Adam Reich Kevin Ochsner Peter Bearman
- Category Paper
- Forum PNAS
- Link doi.org
Why do certain group members end up liking each other more than others? How does affective reciprocity arise in human groups? The prediction of interpersonal sentiment has been a long-standing pursuit in the social sciences. We combined fMRI and longitudinal social network data to test whether newly acquainted group members’ reward-related neural responses to images of one another’s faces predict their future interpersonal sentiment, even many months later. Specifically, we analyze associations between relationship-specific valuation activity and relationship-specific future liking. We found that one’s own future (T2) liking of a particular group member is predicted jointly by actor’s initial (T1) neural valuation of partner and by that partner’s initial (T1) neural valuation of actor. These actor and partner effects exhibited equivalent predictive strength and were robust when statistically controlling for each other, both individuals’ initial liking, and other potential drivers of liking. Behavioral findings indicated that liking was initially unreciprocated at T1 yet became strongly reciprocated by T2. The emergence of affective reciprocity was partly explained by the reciprocal pathways linking dyad members’ T1 neural data both to their own and to each other’s T2 liking outcomes. These findings elucidate interpersonal brain mechanisms that define how we ultimately end up liking particular interaction partners, how group members’ initially idiosyncratic sentiments become reciprocated, and more broadly, how dyads evolve. This study advances a flexible framework for researching the neural foundations of interpersonal sentiments and social relations that—conceptually, methodologically, and statistically—emphasizes group members’ neural interdependence.
Related Projects
-
go to Summer for Respect: Organizing and Oral History
Summer for Respect: Organizing and Oral HistorySpending a summer documenting economic disenfranchisement across America through oral history interviews with workers' groups. In partnership with Organization United for Respect at Walmart
Related Works
-
go to the Columbia University students return amid fear Trump antisemitism deal gives away too muchSep 2025Columbia University students return amid fear Trump antisemitism deal gives away too much Cayla BambergerNew York Daily News
-
go to the United for Retail: Care & Support for Retail WorkersSep 2025United for Retail: Care & Support for Retail Workers Adam Reich, Hana Shepherd
-
go to the Relational Organizing CurriculumSep 2025Relational Organizing Curriculum Adam Reich, Hana Shepherd
-
go to the Workplace Networks and the Dynamics of Worker OrganizingAug 2025Workplace Networks and the Dynamics of Worker Organizing Hana Shepherd, Rebecca Roskill, Suresh Naidu, Adam ReichSociological Science
-
go to the Let Them Speak: In Search of the Drowned; Testimonies and Testimonial Fragments of the HolocaustAug 2025Let Them Speak: In Search of the Drowned; Testimonies and Testimonial Fragments of the Holocaust Chris PandzaOral History Review
-
go to the Columbia's Administrators are Fooling ThemselvesJul 2025Columbia's Administrators are Fooling Themselves Suresh NaiduNew York Times
-
go to the Capturing global investigative journalism's oral historyJul 2025Capturing global investigative journalism's oral history Silas TsangInvestigative Reporters & Editors
-
go to the Harrison White and the Practice of SociologyJul 2025Harrison White and the Practice of Sociology Peter Bearman, Ronald L. BreigerSociologica
-
go to the Lindt Dissertation FellowshipJun 2025Lindt Dissertation Fellowship Amy WeissenbachColumbia Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
-
go to the Kohli Prize for SociologyMay 2025Kohli Prize for Sociology Peter BearmanKohli Foundation for Sociology