Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect (53 page)

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Authors: Matthew D. Lieberman

Tags: #Psychology, #Social Psychology, #Science, #Life Sciences, #Neuroscience, #Neuropsychology

BOOK: Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect
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Chapter 11: The Business of Social Brains

258

“Economists presume that [people] do not work
Camerer, C. F., & Hogarth, R. M. (1999). The effects of financial incentives in experiments: A review and capital-labor-production framework.
Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 19
(1), 7–42.

258

pay for performance usually produces
Ibid.; Jenkins Jr., G. D., Mitra, A., Gupta, N., & Shaw, J. D. (1998). Are financial incentives related to performance? A meta-analytic review of empirical research.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 83
(5), 777.

259

Rock has developed the SCARF model
Rock, D. (2009). Managing with the brain in mind.
Strategy + Business, 56
, 58–67.

259

“the primary colors of intrinsic motivation”
Bryant, A. (2013). A boss’s challenge: Have everyone join the “in” group.
New York Times
, March 23.

259

Autonomy and certainty aren’t really a social part of the story
Pink, D. H. (2010).
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
. New York: Canongate.

260

how much people crave status and recognition
Larkin, I. (2010). Paying $30,000 for a gold star: An empirical investigation into the value of peer recognition to software salespeople. Working paper, Harvard Business School, Boston.

262

companies with more human capital
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.).
Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education.
New York: Greenwood, pp. 241–258; Putnam, R. D. (2000).
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
New York: Simon & Schuster.

262

Economist Arent Greve studied three Italian
Greve, A., Benassi, M., & Sti, A. D. (2010). Exploring the contributions of human and social capital to productivity.
International Review of Sociology—Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 20
(1), 35–58.

263

Social connections are essentially the original Internet
Bosma, N., Van Praag, M., Thurik, R., & De Wit, G. (2004). The value of human and social capital investments for the business performance of startups.
Small Business Economics, 23
(3), 227–236; Chen, M. H., Chang, Y. C., & Hung, S. C. (2007). Social capital and creativity in R&D project teams.
R&D Management, 38
(1), 21–34.

263

The extent to which employees perceive decisions
Colquitt, J. A., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J., Porter, C. O., & Ng, K. Y. (2001). Justice at the millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 86
(3), 425.

263

Fairness might seem like a squishy motivator
Tabibnia, G., Satpute, A. B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2008). The sunny side of fairness: Preference for fairness activates reward circuitry (and disregarding unfairness activates self-control circuitry).
Psychological Science, 19
, 339–347.

264

the chance to help others motivates people
Grant, A. M. (2013).
Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.
New York: Viking.

264

he focused on people working at a university
Grant, A. M., Campbell, E. M., Chen, G., Cottone, K., Lapedis, D., & Lee, K. (2007). Impact and the art of motivation maintenance: The effects of contact with beneficiaries on persistence behavior.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 103
(1), 53–67.

265

Grant replaced the face-to-face meetings
Grant, A. M. (2008). The significance of task significance: Job performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary conditions.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 93
(1), 108.

266

Grant’s second approach to caring and workplace
Grant, A. M., Dutton, J. E., & Rosso, B. D. (2008). Giving commitment: Employee support programs and the prosocial sensemaking process.
Academy of Management Journal, 51
(5), 898–918.

266

Although he did not measure job performance directly
Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., & Hayes, T. L. (2002). Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 87
(2), 268.

266

“He that has once done you a kindness
Franklin, B. (1868/1996).
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
New York: Dover, p. 80.

267

When we see ourselves doing something
Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.).
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
(Vol. 6). New York: Academic Press, pp. 1–62; Burger, J. M. (1999). The foot-in-the-door compliance procedure: A multiple-process analysis and review.
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3
(4), 303–325.

268

they would prefer a better boss to a higher salary
National Boss Day Poll (America 2012) (
www.tellyourboss.com
).

268

Some managers might feel that being disliked
Ibid.

269

asked thousands of employees to score the leadership
Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2009).
The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders
. New York: McGraw-Hill.

270

three-person teams were brought together
Kellett, J. B., Humphrey, R. H., & Sleeth, R. G. (2006). Empathy and the emergence of task and relations leaders.
Leadership Quarterly, 17
(2), 146–162.

271

the characteristics that people associated with leaders
Lord, R. G., De Vader, C. L., & Alliger, G. M. (1986). A meta-analysis of the relation between personality traits and leadership perceptions: An application of validity generalization procedures.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 71
(3), 402.

272

One study examined this possibility by looking at the relationships
Kellett, J. B., Humphrey, R. H., & Sleeth, R. G. (2002). Empathy and complex task performance: Two routes to leadership.
Leadership Quarterly, 13
(5), 523–544.

272

Though there have been studies showing the social and nonsocial reasoning
Meyer, M. L., Spunt, R. P., Berkman, E. T., Taylor, S. E., & Lieberman, M. D. (2012). Social working memory: An fMRI study of parametric increases in social cognitive effort.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109
, 1883–1888; Spreng, N., Stevens, W. D., Chamberlain, J. P., Gilmore, A. W., and Schacter, D. L. (2010). Default network activity, coupled with the frontoparietal control network, supports goal-directed cognition.
NeuroImage 53
, 303–317; Christoff, K., Gordon, A. M., Smallwood, J., Smith, R., and Schooler, J. W. (2009). Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106
, 8719–8724.

Chapter 12: Educating the Social Brain

275

In the United States, we spend more on public education (kindergarten through twelfth grade)
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_education_spending_20.html
.

275

Out of 34 comparison countries
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (2009):
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisa2009/pisa2009keyfindings.htm
. Executive Summary:
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/46619703.pdf
.

275

we are getting a lousy return
Even just within the United States, increases in education spending in each state over the past two decades have had very little connection to the achievement gains seen in those states. Hanushek, E. A., Peterson, P. E., & Woessmann, L. (2012). Is the U.S. catching up? International and state trends in student achievement.
Education Next
, 24–33.

275

the societal payoff would be immeasurable
Juvonen, J., et al. (2004).
Focus on the Wonder Years: Challenges Facing the American Middle School
(Vol. 139). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation; Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & Mac Iver, D. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families.
American Psychologist, 48
(2), 90.

276

There are myriad reasons why academic performance
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.
Psychological Bulletin, 117
(3), 497.

276

This switch also brings with it a change
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & Mac Iver, D. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families.
American Psychologist, 48
(2), 90.

277

Do junior high students feel like they don’t belong?
Juvonen, J. (2004).
Focus on the Wonder Years: Challenges Facing the American Middle School
(Vol. 139). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

277

Observers’ inaction is taken as a tacit endorsement
Juvonen, J., & Galván, A. (2009). Bullying as a means to foster compliance. In M. Harris (Ed).
Bullying, Rejection and Peer Victimization: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective
. New York: Springer, pp. 299–318.

277

bullying in school is associated with negative changes
Fekkes, M., Pijpers, F. I., Fredriks, A. M., Vogels, T., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S. P. (2006). Do bullied children get ill, or do ill children get bullied? A prospective cohort study on the relationship between bullying and health-related symptoms.
Pediatrics, 117
(5), 1568–1574; Nishina, A., Juvonen, J., & Witkow, M. R. (2005). Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will make me feel sick: The psychosocial, somatic, and scholastic consequences of peer harassment.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34
(1), 37–48.

278

Young adolescents experiencing more bullying
Juvonen, J., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2000). Peer harassment, psychological adjustment, and school functioning in early adolescence.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 92
(2), 349; Lopez, C., & DuBois, D. L. (2005). Peer victimization and rejection: Investigation of an integrative model of effects on emotional, behavioral, and academic adjustment in early adolescence.
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34
(1), 25–36.

278

as many as 40 percent of adolescents report
Wang, J., Iannotti, R. J., Luk, J. W., & Nansel, T. R. (2010). Co-occurrence of victimization from five subtypes of bullying: Physical, verbal, social exclusion, spreading rumors, and cyber.
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 35
(10), 1103–1112.

278

Dewey Cornell examined how schools as a whole
Lacey, A., & Cornell, D. (under review). The impact of teasing and bullying on school-wide academic performance.

278

chronic physical pain is associated with
Dick, B. D., & Rashiq, S. (2007). Disruption of attention and working memory traces in individuals with chronic pain.
Anesthesia & Analgesia, 104
(5), 1223–1229; Glass, J. M. (2009). Review of cognitive dysfunction in fibromyalgia: A convergence on working memory and attentional control impairments.
Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, 35
, 299–311.

278

social pain leads to decrements in intellectual performance
Baumeister, R. F., Twenge, J. M., & Nuss, C. K. (2002). Effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes: Anticipated aloneness reduces intelligent thought.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83
(4), 817.

279

a modest impact on GPA of being accepted
Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., & Li, D. (1997). Relation between academic achievement and social adjustment: Evidence from Chinese children.
Developmental Psychology, 33
(3), 518; Furrer, C., & Skinner, E. (2003). Sense of relatedness as a factor in children’s academic engagement and performance.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 95
(1), 148; Wentzel, K. R., & Caldwell, K. (1997). Friendships, peer acceptance, and group membership: Relations to academic achievement in middle school.
Child Development, 68
(6), 1198–1209; Wentzel, K. R. (1998). Social relationships and motivation in middle school: The role of parents, teachers, and peers.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 90
(2), 202.

279

The most persuasive findings
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92
(1), 82; Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students.
Science, 331
(6023), 1447–1451.

279

they tested the effects on African-American
http://oir.yale.edu/yale-factsheet
.

280

Alice Isen repeatedly observed that feeling good
Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52
(6), 1122.

280

positive affect enhances working memory ability
Carpenter, S. M., Peters, E., Västfjäll, D., & Isen, A. M. (2013). Positive feelings facilitate working memory and complex decision making among older adults.
Cognition and Emotion, 27
, 184–192; Esmaeili, M. T., Karimi, M., Tabatabaie, K. R., Moradi, A., & Farahini, N. (2011). The effect of positive arousal on working memory.
Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30
, 1457–1460.

280

feeling good and thinking well both depend on dopamine
Ashby, F. G., & Isen, A. M. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition.
Psychological Review, 106
(3), 529.

281

The lateral prefrontal cortex is also rich with dopamine
Aalto, S., Brück, A., Laine, M., Någren, K., & Rinne, J. O. (2005). Frontal and temporal dopamine release during working memory and attention tasks in healthy humans: A positron emission tomography study using the high-affinity dopamine D2 receptor ligand [11C] FLB 457.
Journal of Neuroscience, 25
(10), 2471–2477.

281

Dopamine reductions in the prefrontal cortex
Brozoski, T. J., Brown, R. M., Rosvold, H. E., & Goldman, P. S. (1979). Cognitive deficit caused by regional depletion of dopamine in prefrontal cortex of rhesus monkey.
Science, 205
, 929–932; Sawaguchi, T., & Goldman-Rakic, P. S. (1991). D1 dopamine receptors in prefrontal cortex: Involvement in working memory.
Science, 251
(4996), 947; Luciana, M., Depue, R. A., Arbisi, P., & Leon, A. (1992). Facilitation of working memory in humans by a D2 dopamine receptor agonist.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 4
(1), 58–68; Müller, U., Von Cramon, D. Y., & Pollmann, S. (1998). D1-versus D2-receptor modulation of visuospatial working memory in humans.
Journal of Neuroscience, 18
(7), 2720–2728.

281

If our schools are broken
Compayre, G., & Payne, W. H. (2003).
History of Pedagogy.
New York: Kessinger.

282

“Thou didst beat me
Longstreet, W. S., & Shane, H. G. (1993).
Curriculum for a New Millennium.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

282

By junior high, education is a battle
Crone, E. A., & Dahl, R. E. (2012). Understanding adolescence as a period of social-affective engagement and goal flexibility.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 13
(9), 636–650; Nelson, E. E., Leibenluft, E., McClure, E., & Pine, D. S. (2005). The social re-orientation of adolescence: A neuroscience perspective on the process and its relation to psychopathology.
Psychological Medicine, 35
(02), 163–174; Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development.
Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2
(1), 55–87.

282

The mentalizing system that promotes this
Pfeifer, J. H., & Allen, N. B. (2012). Arrested development? Reconsidering dual-systems models of brain function in adolescence and disorders.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16
, 322–329; Blakemore, S. J. (2008). The social brain in adolescence.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9
(4), 267–277.

282

We spend more than 20,000 hours in classrooms
Conway, M. A., Cohen, G., & Stanhope, N. (1991). On the very long-term retention of knowledge acquired through formal education: Twelve years of cognitive psychology.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 120
, 395–409.

283

We need the social brain to work for us,
There are some great start-ups trying to do exactly this. See Rob Hutter’s
Learn Capital:
http://www.learncapital.com
.

283

Classroom learning as it typically occurs
Wagner, A. D., Schacter, D. L., Rotte, M., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Dale, A. M., … , & Buckner, R. L. (1998). Building memories: Remembering and forgetting of verbal experiences as predicted by brain activity.
Science, 281
(5380), 1188–1191.

284

a series of behavioral studies demonstrated
Hamilton, D. L., Katz, L. B., & Leirer, V. O. (1980). Cognitive representation of personality impressions: Organizational processes in first impression formation.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39
(6), 1050.

284

Jason Mitchell, a social neuroscientist at Harvard University
Mitchell, J. P., Macrae, C. N., & Banaji, M. R. (2004). Encoding-specific effects of social cognition on the neural correlates of subsequent memory.
Journal of Neuroscience, 24
(21), 4912–4917.

288

Yale psychologist John Bargh
Bargh, J. A., & Schul, Y. (1980). On the cog-nitive benefits of teaching.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 72
(5), 593.

290

multiple studies have demonstrated that peer tutoring benefits
Allen, V. L., & Feldman, R. S. (1973). Learning through tutoring: Low-achieving children as tutors.
Journal of Experimental Education, 42
, 1–5; Rohrbeck, C. A., Ginsburg-Block, M. D., Fantuzzo, J. W., & Miller, T. R. (2003). Peer-assisted learning interventions with elementary school students: A meta-analytic review.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 95
(2), 240; Semb, G. B., Ellis, J. A., & Araujo, J. (1993). Long-term memory for knowledge learned in school.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 85
(2), 305.

292

Neural and hormonal changes
Nelson, E. E., Leibenluft, E., McClure, E., & Pine, D. S. (2005). The social re-orientation of adolescence: A neuro-science perspective on the process and its relation to psychopathology.
Psychological Medicine, 35
(02), 163–174.

292

We rarely get direct feedback about our errors
Tesser, A., Rosen, S., & Batchelor, T. R. (1972). On the reluctance to communicate bad news (the MUM effect): A role play extension.
Journal of Personality, 40
(1), 88–103.

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