The ecological roots of human susceptibility to social influence: a pre-registered study investigating the impact of early-life adversity

Royal Society Open Science
Pierre O JacquetCoralie Chevallier

Abstract

There is considerable variability in the degree to which individuals rely on their peers to make decisions. Although theoretical models predict that environmental risks shift the cost-benefit trade-off associated with social information use, this idea has received little empirical support. Here we aim to test the effect of childhood environmental adversity on humans' susceptibility to follow others' opinion in the context of a standard face evaluation task. Results collected in a pilot study involving 121 adult participants tested online showed that susceptibility to social influence and childhood environmental adversity are positively associated. Computational analyses further confirmed that this effect is not explained by the fact that participants exposed to early adversity produce noisier decisions overall but that they are indeed more likely to follow the group's opinion. To test the robustness of these findings, a pre-registered direct replication using an optimal sample size was run. The results obtained from 262 participants in the pre-registered study did not reveal a significant association between childhood adversity and task performance but the meta-analysis ran on both the pilot and the pre-registered study replica...Continue Reading

References

May 27, 2004·Learning & Behavior·Kevin N Laland
Jul 16, 2004·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Val CurtisTamer Rabie
Jan 25, 2006·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Martie G Haselton, Daniel Nettle
Jul 27, 2006·Psychological Science·Janine Willis, Alexander Todorov
Jul 1, 2008·Cognitive Neuropsychology·Alexander Todorov, Bradley Duchaine
Aug 8, 2008·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Nikolaas N Oosterhof, Alexander Todorov
Jan 17, 2009·Neuron·Vasily KlucharevGuillén Fernández
Sep 30, 2010·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Vladas GriskeviciusJoshua M Tybur
Feb 11, 2011·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Damian R MurrayMark Schaller
Mar 2, 2011·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Guillaume Rieucau, Luc-Alain Giraldeau
May 28, 2011·Science·Michele J GelfandSusumu Yamaguchi
Jun 10, 2011·Psychological Science·Jamil ZakiJason P Mitchell
Jun 28, 2011·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Takeshi Hamamura
Nov 3, 2011·PloS One·Daniel NettleMaria Cockerill
Jan 24, 2012·Current Biology : CB·Marine BattestiFrederic Mery
Feb 10, 2012·Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology·Daniel K Campbell-MeiklejohnAndreas Roepstorff
Jun 12, 2012·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Anna ShestakovaVasily Klucharev
May 15, 2013·Neuron·Keise Izuma, Ralph Adolphs
Jun 22, 2013·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Dominic D P JohnsonMartie G Haselton
Jul 12, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Daniel NettleIan J Rickard
Dec 20, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Ulf ToelchSimon M Reader
Jan 28, 2014·Psychopharmacology·Arndis SimonsenDaniel Campbell-Meiklejohn
Feb 25, 2014·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Christoph Grüter, Ellouise Leadbeater
Apr 8, 2014·Nature Communications·Lucas MollemanFranz J Weissing
May 24, 2014·Psychological Science·Yi HuangRongjun Yu
Jun 17, 2014·Infection, Genetics and Evolution : Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases·Valerio NapolioniJames MacMurray
Aug 19, 2014·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Chiraag Mittal, Vladas Griskevicius
Dec 5, 2014·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Melissa BatesonDaniel Nettle
May 1, 2014·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Sanford L BraverRobert Rosenthal
Jul 24, 2015·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Daniel Nettle, Melissa Bateson
Sep 19, 2015·Psychological Science·Michael Bang Petersen, Lene Aarøe
Sep 29, 2015·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Chiraag MittalEthan S Young
Jan 19, 2016·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Alex MesoudiAlex Thornton
Jan 29, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Karthik Panchanathan, Willem E Frankenhuis
Feb 5, 2016·Psychological Science·Sarah E HillAndrew Kramer
Mar 2, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·C P van SchaikC Schuppli
Jan 19, 2018·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·Gillian V Pepper, Daniel Nettle
Sep 28, 2018·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·Nicolas Baumard

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

May 18, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Olivier MorinAlberto Acerbi

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
environmental stress

Software Mentioned

FaceGen Modeller
metafor
Mechanical
nlme R package
Matlab
R
Qualtrics
Turk
fmincon

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.