Self-esteem modulates automatic attentional responses to self-relevant stimuli: evidence from event-related brain potentials

Abstract

Previous studies have widely shown that self-esteem modulates the attention bias towards social rejection or emotion-related information. However, little is known about the influences of self-esteem on attention bias towards self-relevant stimuli. We aimed to investigate neural correlates that underlie the modulation effect of self-esteem on self-relevant processing. Event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded for subjects' own names and close others' names (the names of their friends) while subjects performed a three-stimulus oddball task. The results showed larger P2 amplitudes for one's own name than for close-other's name in the low self-esteem group, whereas this P2 effect were not observed in the high self-esteem group. In addition, one's own name elicited equivalent N250 amplitudes and larger P3 amplitudes compared with close-other's name in both high and low self-esteem groups. However, no interaction effects were observed between self-esteem and self-relevant processing in the N250 and P3 components. Thus, we found that the modulation effects of self-esteem on self-relevant processing occurred at the early P2 stage, but not at the later N250 and P3 stages. These findings reflect that individuals with low self-esteem demonstrate automatic attention towards their own names.

Temporal features of individual and collective self-referential processing: an event-related potential study

“…More specifically, highly salient stimuli such as negative emotional stimuli usually elicited larger P2 amplitudes than positive or neutral emotional stimuli (Carretié et al, 2001(Carretié et al, , 2004. It has been also found that self-name elicited larger P2 amplitudes than other names (Chen, Shui & Zhong, 2015;Chen et al, 2011). Consistent with previous studies, the present study also observed larger P2 amplitudes in self-condition (individual self) compared with the famous person-condition.…”

“…More recently, event-related potentials, a high-temporal resolution technique recording neural activity with millisecond precision, have been widely used to investigate the time course of self-referential processing and its neural correlates. For example, electrophysiological studies found an obvious self-relevant effect on the early P2 component, which is a positive component peaking at the latency of around 200 ms after stimulus onset (Chen, Shui & Zhong, 2015;Liu et al, 2019). In addition, self-relevant effect could also occur on the N2 component, a negative deflection peaking between 200 and 350 ms after stimulus onset, with smaller N2 amplitudes induced by participants' own than by other faces or handwritings (Chen et al, 2008;Keyes et al, 2010).…”

Self-Reference Emerges Earlier than Emotion during an Implicit Self-Referential Emotion Processing Task: Event-Related Potential Evidence

“…Early self-related identification is usually found in Chinese populations for both explicit (Sui et al, 2012c ; Zhang et al, 2013 ) and implicit (Sui et al, 2009 ; Fan et al, 2011 , 2013 ; Yang et al, 2012 ; Liu et al, 2016 ) self-referential processing. There is even a temporal sensitivity to the self-relevant degree effect in Chinese individuals (Chen et al, 2011 , 2015 ; Guan et al, 2014 ). Our finding of early self-discrimination is consistent with studies of Chinese subjects (Sui et al, 2009 , 2012c ; Chen et al, 2011 , 2015 ; Fan et al, 2011 , 2013 ; Yang et al, 2012 ; Zhang et al, 2013 ; Guan et al, 2014 ; Liu et al, 2016 ) and Western populations (Herbert et al, 2011a ; Sui et al, 2012c ; Tacikowski et al, 2014 ).…”

“…The widely reported self-prioritization effect in perception and memory suggests a social discrimination function of self (Macrae et al, 2004 , 2017 ; Sui et al, 2012a , b , 2015 ; Schäfer et al, 2015 , 2016 ). The components of N1 (50–150 ms), P2 (about 150–250 ms), and P300 (about 300–500 ms) have shown the advantage effect for self-relevant stimuli (Zhao et al, 2009 , 2011 ; Fan et al, 2011 ; Yang et al, 2012 ; Chen et al, 2015 ; Liu et al, 2016 ). Interestingly, self-identification is highly sensitive to temporal processing, and there is a self-relevant degree effect where high self-relevant stimuli are preferentially processed relative to those low in self-relevance (Chen et al, 2011 , 2015 ; Guan et al, 2014 ).…”

“…The components of N1 (50–150 ms), P2 (about 150–250 ms), and P300 (about 300–500 ms) have shown the advantage effect for self-relevant stimuli (Zhao et al, 2009 , 2011 ; Fan et al, 2011 ; Yang et al, 2012 ; Chen et al, 2015 ; Liu et al, 2016 ). Interestingly, self-identification is highly sensitive to temporal processing, and there is a self-relevant degree effect where high self-relevant stimuli are preferentially processed relative to those low in self-relevance (Chen et al, 2011 , 2015 ; Guan et al, 2014 ). The tasks and elicited ERP components vary among studies, but the findings consistently suggest that self- and other-relevant processes could be rapidly discriminated in the very early stage.…”