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" Self-Affirmation Activates the Ventral Striatum: "
Dutcher, Janine M; Creswell, J David; Pacilio, Laura E; Harris, Peter R; Klein, William MP; Levine, John M; Bower, Julienne E; Muscatell, Keely A
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AL
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| Record Number
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916846
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LA1td8956r
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| Title & Author
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Self-Affirmation Activates the Ventral Striatum:. A Possible Reward-Related Mechanism for Self-Affirmation. [Article]\ Dutcher, Janine M; Creswell, J David; Pacilio, Laura E; Harris, Peter R; Klein, William MP; Levine, John M; Bower, Julienne E; Muscatell, Keely A
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2016
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UCLA
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| Abstract
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Self-affirmation (reflecting on important personal values) has been shown to have a range of positive effects; however, the neural basis of self-affirmation is not known. Building on studies showing that thinking about self-preferences activates neural reward pathways, we hypothesized that self-affirmation would activate brain reward circuitry during functional MRI (fMRI) studies. In Study 1, with college students, making judgments about important personal values during self-affirmation activated neural reward regions (i.e., ventral striatum), whereas making preference judgments that were not self-relevant did not. Study 2 replicated these results in a community sample, again showing that self-affirmation activated the ventral striatum. These are among the first fMRI studies to identify neural processes during self-affirmation. The findings extend theory by showing that self-affirmation may be rewarding and may provide a first step toward identifying a neural mechanism by which self-affirmation may produce a wide range of beneficial effects.
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