The present study investigated to what extent the clothes we wear influence prosocial behaviors and two related neuro-cognitive processes, namely the sense of agency and empathy for pain. We tested forty participants wearing civilian, military and Red Cross uniforms across three consecutive days. Participants were tested by pairs and were assigned either to the role of the agent or to the role of the ‘victim’. Agents could deliver real electric shocks to the ‘victim’ in exchange for +€0.05, either following their own decision or following the experimenter’s instructions. Our results indicated that wearing a Red Cross uniform increased the amplitude of the neural response to pain when participants witnessed shocks in comparison with wearing civilian or military clothing. Results also revealed that the sense of agency increased when participants wore a military uniform compared to wearing their own civilian clothing in the Free condition. Finally, participants gave less shocks when wearing the Red Cross uniform compared to wearing their civilian clothing. This study highlights the effect of wearing symbolic uniforms on the sense of agency, on the neural empathic response and on prosocial behavior, thus broadening our knowledge on the impact of ‘enclothed cognition’ on cognitive and psychological processes.
A critical scientific and societal challenge consists in developing and evaluating interventions that reduce prejudice towards outgroups. Video games appear to be a promising method but a number of falls in the current scientific literature prevents to fully understand the potential sizeable impact of video games on reducing prejudice. The present study investigated to what extent a video game designed to reduce prejudice towards minorities in a fictional society has the potential to reduce prejudice towards non-fictional minorities. Participants played either a recently developed game designed to reduce prejudice towards non-fictional minorities (hereafter referred to as the test game) or a control game. After playing at home, participants performed two tasks in a lab context. We observed overall a positive effect of playing the test game compared to the control game on attenuating prejudice towards an outgroup individual. We indeed observed that players of the control game had more midfrontal theta activity, reflecting more cognitive conflict, when they acted prosociality towards the outgroup participant and a lower neural response to the pain of the outgroup participant compared to the ingroup participant. These effects were attenuated for players of the test game. We also observed that players of the test game had a higher sense of agency when they decided to help the outgroup participant compared to when they did not help the outgroup participant, an effect not observable in players of the control game. These results are promising as they support evidence that using fictional characters in video games may induce positive changes towards non-fictional individuals.
A critical scientific and societal challenge consists in developing and evaluating interventions that reduce prejudice towards outgroups. Video games appear to be a promising method but a number of falls in the current scientific literature prevents to fully understand the potential sizeable impact of video games on reducing prejudice. The present study investigated to what extent a video game designed to reduce prejudice towards minorities in a fictional society has the potential to reduce prejudice towards non-fictional minorities. Participants played either a recently developed game (Horns of Justice, HoJ) designed to reduce prejudice towards non-fictional minorities or a control game. After playing at home, participants performed two tasks in a lab context. We observed an overall positive effect of playing HoJ compared to the control game on attenuating prejudice towards an outgroup individual. We indeed observed that players of the control game had more midfrontal theta activity, reflecting more cognitive conflict, when they acted prosociality towards the outgroup participant and a lower neural response to the pain of the outgroup participant compared to the ingroup participant. These effects were attenuated for players of HoJ. We also observed that players of HoJ had a higher sense of agency when they decided to help the outgroup participant compared to when they did not help the outgroup participant, an effect not observable in players of the control game. These results are promising as they support evidence that using fictional characters in video game may induce positive changes on non-fictional individuals.
Studying what factors influence the ability to resonate with the pain of others in the aftermath of a genocide and how this extends to the following generation is critical for understand better the perpetuation of conflicts. In the present study conducted in Rwanda, we recruited former genocide perpetrators, survivors and their respective offspring and investigated how their neural response to the pain of others is modulated when they visualized pictures of former perpetrators, survivors or their children. We further evaluated how the impact of the genocide and psychological factors associated with a trauma influenced the results. Results showed that the intergroup empathy bias, that is, a reduced neural response to the pain of the outgroup, is present for both individuals alive during the genocide and their offspring. We also observed that a higher number of stressors experienced during the genocide was associated with a higher reduction of the neural response to the pain of others, even towards the children of one’s own ingroup. Finally, we observed that a deliberate and free decision to reconcile is associated with a higher neural response to the pain of others. The results may be central for encouraging reconciliation in peacebuilding programs and for fostering empathic repair after a trauma.
Studying how intergroup prosociality evolves in war-torn societies is critical for understanding better the perpetuation of conflict. Rwanda is a unique example of how two groups that were in conflict in the past have to reconcile and manage their intergroup biases. In the present study, we used a novel Intended Prosociality Task to measure intergroup prosociality between former perpetrators, survivors and their children in Rwanda. In the task, participants had to decide between different individuals representing their own ingroup or their outgroup, who would be the recipient of their prosocial intentions. We measured how frequently they selected the ingroup or outgroup individuals and to what extent choosing each individual induced a cognitive conflict, as measured with reaction times (RT) and mid-frontal theta activity (FMθ). Results indicated that survivors and their children selected less frequently former perpetrators and their offspring as the recipient of their prosocial intentions. Further, nonetheless selecting them involved a higher cognitive conflict preceding their decision, as indexed by longer RT and a higher FMθ, compared to choosing their own ingroup. For the group composed of former perpetrators and their children, we observed a dissociation. They selected more frequently the outgroup individuals, perhaps as a compensating behavior for their past wrongdoings. Nonetheless, selecting the outgroup individuals involved a higher cognitive conflict preceding their decision, as indexed by longer RT when they were free to choose and higher FMθ, than selecting their own ingroup. Results are important to understand how past conflicts influence the intergroup prosociality bias and to what extent this bias is diffused to the next generation individuals.
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