When we see we deviate from the group a 'wrong' signal goes off in our brain. Our 'oops-area' becomes incredibly active, the reward-area gets less so. Combined it creates such a strong signal of being wrong that we still won't make the same mistake twice a long time later, so say the researchers in Neuron.
Social on your own
To measure the brainprocesses involved in social behaviour in a one-person scanner requires cunning and creativity. The researchers came up with the following solution: test subjects have to judge the attraction of 222 faces in a rapid pace on a scale of 1 to 8. After they’d given their score a higher, lower or equal score was shown.
In the instruction they were told that that score was the average judgment of others who also took part in the experiment and that they were shown the number to make staying in the scanner a little less boring. After the experiment people could chat and drink a bit and the research leader would come in and tell them that there was something wrong with the data registration and if the test subject could retake the scores.
Without exception people shoved their judgment more towards the shown average. Though there was a lot of individual variation in the amount people changed their opinion, but there was no one who didn’t change their mind at least a little.
Deviating from the group is experienced in the brain as a punishment. On the one hand the area in the ‘rostral cingulate zone’ becomes more active: the fault is noticed. But the area that expects rewards, the ‘nucleus accumbens’ gets less active.
Future Vision by Erwin Van Lun on this article
People are and remain herd animals. Brands will continuously keep you up-to-date with what your friends are doing, even more than you already know. This’ll only lead to more group behaviour, but end up getting a counter-movement. This is how we’re undulating through the future.