Culture Modulates the Neural Correlates Underlying Risky Exploration.

Yang Qu,Eva H Telzer,Lynda C Lin

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2019.00171

Abstract

Most research on cultural neuroscience focuses on one dimension of culture: group membership or individual orientation. However, it is especially important to examine the intersection between the two to better understand the acculturation process. To examine the role of culture in the neural correlates of risky exploration, the current study recruited 22 American and 24 Chinese international students. Participants reported on their independent self-construal, a measure defining the self in terms of emphasizing unique attributes, and underwent an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan while completing a risk-taking task. At the group level, American (vs. Chinese) participants showed greater risky exploration on the task. Moreover, while independent self-construal was not related to American individuals’ behavioral performance and neural correlates of risky exploration, Chinese participants who reported greater independent self-construal recruited greater activation in regions of the cognitive control system [e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)] and affective system [e.g., anterior insula (AI)], which was related to greater risky exploration. Taken together, our findings suggest that culture as group membership and individual orientation may interact with each other and relate to neural systems underlying risky exploration. This study highlights the importance of studying the role of culture at both group and individual level, which is particularly critical to understand individuals as they acculturate to a new environment.

Highlights

IntroductionMost research on cultural neuroscience focuses on one dimension of culture: group membership (e.g., nationality or country of origin) or individual orientation (e.g., self-construal or cultural beliefs) (e.g., Cheon et al, 2011; Wang et al, 2013, 2017)
Most research on cultural neuroscience focuses on one dimension of culture: group membership or individual orientation (e.g., Cheon et al, 2011; Wang et al, 2013, 2017)
Prior research examines cross-cultural differences in self-reported risk-taking behavior or risk preference (Weber and Hsee, 1998; Greenberger et al, 2000), little is known about the role of culture in the motivation of risk taking and the underpinning neural correlates as individuals acculturate to a new culture

Summary

Introduction

Most research on cultural neuroscience focuses on one dimension of culture: group membership (e.g., nationality or country of origin) or individual orientation (e.g., self-construal or cultural beliefs) (e.g., Cheon et al, 2011; Wang et al, 2013, 2017). As proposed by Kitayama and colleagues (Kitayama et al, 2006; Kitayama and Park, 2010; Kitayama et al, 2014), voluntary immigrants moving to the frontiers (i.e., new territory in the original country or foreign countries) have greater independent self-construal than those who choose to stay in their original regions Based on this voluntary settlement hypothesis, Culture and Risky Exploration individuals who are self-motivated to move to the United States for education and living may show the same level of independent self-construal as their American counterparts (e.g., Cross, 1995; Coon and Kemmelmeier, 2001), they may still show group-level differences in other domains, such as risk perception or risk behavior (e.g., Brindis et al, 1995; Ojeda et al, 2008; Prado et al, 2009; Almeida et al, 2012; Salas-Wright et al, 2016). It is important to examine how independent self-construal (i.e., culture as individual orientation) functions across cultural groups (i.e., culture as group membership), in order to better understand the intersection of culture across two dimensions (group level and individual orientation)

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