Abstract
AbstractSocial reward refers to the motivational and pleasurable aspects of our interactions with other people. While some people experience social encounters as pleasurable, others experience them as aversive. However, the current knowledge on individual differences in social reward valuation in relation to pro- and antisocial personality characteristics is limited. The Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ) was developed to assess individual differences in the value of different types of social rewards. First, the present study examined the validity and reliability of the Dutch version of the SRQ in a Dutch and Flemish community sample (N = 1892). Second, using latent profile analysis (LPA), it was investigated whether subgroups of participants existed with distinctive patterns of social reward valuation, and whether these subgroups differed in their level of psychopathic traits, aggression, and social anxiety. The results confirmed the original six-factor structure and showed good reliability and validity. The LPA identified four classes of individuals, labelled as: Low Social Interest, High Social Interest, Undifferentiated Social Reward-seekers, and Socially Cruel. These classes were further typified by distinct levels of psychopathy, reactive and proactive aggression, and social anxiety. The present findings contribute to our understanding of individual variability in the underlying motives of social behaviors.
Highlights
In daily life, we often engage in behaviors that lead to pleasurable and rewarding outcomes
Social reward valuation was found to be associated with the big five personality traits: Admiration was positively correlated with extraversion and openness; Negative Social Potency was negatively associated with agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotionality, and positively with openness to experience; Passivity was negatively associated with conscientiousness, emotionality, and openness to experience; Prosocial Relationships was positively correlated with all big five personality traits; Sexual Relationships was positively associated with extraversion and openness to experience; and Sociability correlated positively with agreeableness, emotionality, extraversion, and openness to experience
This implies that the factor structure of the Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ) is relatively robust across different age groups, the groups may differ in their social activities
Summary
We often engage in behaviors that lead to pleasurable and rewarding outcomes. The factor structure of the SRQ based on the five left subscales remained unchanged in an adolescent sample, and similar patterns of associations were found with the big five personality traits. A four-factor solution was found instead in which the original items were re-clustered in the following subscales: acceptance, prosocial interactions, sexual/abusive relations, and negative social potency. These results highlight that cultural differences may exist in what is considered to be rewarding during social interactions. It was suggested that admiration may fuel these narcissistic traits and is, valued as rewarding (Foulkes et al, 2014a) These findings enhance our understanding of the possible motives behind social behaviors in individuals with elevated levels of psychopathy
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