Ranking status differentially affects rejection sensitivity in adolescence: An event-related potential study

Neuropsychologia, vol. 162, pp. 108020

Abstract

Adolescents are sensitive to peer rejection but this may be dependent on their status. This study examined the role of ranking status on rejection sensitivity in adolescence using an experimental bargaining design. To manipulate ranking status, participants between ages 9-22-years (final sample n = 102) performed a reaction time task with two peers to induce high and low status. Next, participants played an iterative Ultimatum Game as high or low status proposer with an opposite status responder. Rejection of fair offers was associated with larger Medial Frontal Negativity (MFN) compared to acceptance of fair offers. An interaction between age and status group revealed that after rejection of fair offers, mid-adolescents showed a larger MFN when having a low status and smaller MFN when having a high status, relative to children and adults. These findings suggest that the MFN reacts as a neural alarm system to social prediction errors, signaling a need for vigilance to deviations from the norm, which is influenced by ranking status especially during mid-adolescence.

Authors 2

1. Kiki Zanolie corresponding Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, the Netherlands. Electronic address: c.k.k.zanolie@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, the Netherlands

2. Eveline A. Crone Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University

   Leiden University · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University, the Netherlands

   Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University, the Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands