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. 2010 Nov;31(11):1741-50.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.20972.

The envious brain: the neural basis of social comparison

Jonathan Dvash  1 , Gadi Gilam, Aharon Ben-Ze'ev, Talma Hendler, Simone G Shamay-Tsoory
Affiliations

The envious brain: the neural basis of social comparison

Jonathan Dvash et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2010 Nov.

Abstract

Humans have a drive to evaluate themselves by examining their abilities and outcomes in comparison to others. The present study examined the emotional and neural correlates of upward social comparison (comparison with those who have more) and downward social comparison (comparison with those who have less). Two experiments were conducted with volunteers in an interactive game of chance, in which a putative player won or lost more money than the participant. The results showed that even when participants lost money, they expressed joy and schadenfreude (gloating) if the other player had lost more money. On the other hand when they actually won money, but the other player had won more they expressed envy. This pattern was also demonstrated in a differential BOLD response in the ventral striatum. Comparing the activations between an actual gain and a relative gain indicated that even when a person loses money, merely adding information about another person's greater loss may increase ventral striatum activations to a point where these activations are similar to those of an actual gain. We suggest that the ventral striatum plays a role in mediating the emotional consequences of social comparison.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic depiction of a single trial setting: Three doors were presented from which subjects had to choose one. Followed by the decision, the participant's outcome was presented. After a short interval, the other (putative) player's outcome was presented adjacent to that of the participant. 4.4 seconds of a blank screen followed. In this example, a relative loss condition is shown. An absolute gain of 4 NIS (New Israeli Shekel), equivalent to $1, was followed by the other's gain of 16 NIS ($4), thus producing a relative loss. Following each trial, the participant completed a computerized rating scale (from 1 to 7), which included questions about emotions and feelings toward colors (two questions).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) T‐Map projected on a single‐subject template for the contrast between absolute gains and losses or relative gains and losses with the focus on the activation maximum in the left ventral striatum (TAL: X: −7, Y: 12, Z: −4). (b) Parameter estimates for supra‐threshold voxels from this contrast showed a similar pattern of activations between absolute gains and losses or relative gains and losses. No significant differences were found between absolute and relative gains or between absolute and relative losses. Parameter estimates represent effect strengths of the condition's influence on the BOLD response. They were then subjected to repeated measures ANOVA.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Higher BOLD response in the ventral striatum in the Absolute no gain or loss as compared to relative loss conditions. Lower BOLD response in the ventral striatum in the absolute no gain or loss as compared to relative gain conditions. (b) Lower BOLD response in the ventral striatum in the absolute loss as compared to the relative gain conditions. No difference between the absolute loss and relative loss events. (c) Higher BOLD response in the ventral striatum in the absolute gain as compared to the relative loss events. No difference between the absolute gain and relative gain events.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ventral striatum activations in the absolute gain (Self > 0) events decreased when this gain was compared to the other's greater gain (Self < Other). Activations in the absolute loss (Self < 0) events increased when the loss was compared to the other's greater loss (Self > Other). No difference was found in the activations between an absolute gain and a relative gain. No difference was found in the activations between an absolute loss and a relative loss.
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