Seeing Yourself in a Positive Light: Brain Correlates of the Self-Positivity Bias.

L Watson, Barbara Dritschel, M Obonsawin, Ines Jentzsch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Individuals are found to have better recall for self-referent information than other types of information. However, attribution research has shown that self-reference is highly correlated with emotional valence. The present study attempted to identify and separate the processing of self-reference and emotional valence using ERPs. Participants performed a two-choice task, judging the self-referential content of positive and negative words. Reaction times revealed an interaction between self-reference and emotional valence. Faster responses occurred after self-positive and non-self negative words as compared to self-negative and non-self-positive words. A similar interaction was identified in ERP waveforms in the time range of the N400 component at fronto-central electrode sites, with larger N400 amplitudes for words outwith the self-positivity bias. Thus, the size of the N400 may indicate the extent to which information is discrepant with the individual's self-concept. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)106-110
Number of pages5
JournalBrain Research
Volume1152
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jun 2007

Keywords

  • self
  • self-reference
  • valence
  • positivity bias
  • ERPs
  • PERSONAL INFORMATION
  • MEMORY
  • WORDS
  • FMRI
  • SEARCH

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Seeing Yourself in a Positive Light: Brain Correlates of the Self-Positivity Bias.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this