Abstract
Previous research on relationships between affective-motivational traits and hemispheric asymmetries in resting frontal alpha band power as measured by electroencephalography (EEG) focused on individual differences in motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) or behavioral activation. The present study investigated resting frontal alpha asymmetries in 72 participants as a function of individual differences in the implicit affiliation motive as measured with the operant motive test (OMT) and explored the brain source thereof. Decreased relative right frontal activity as indexed by increased alpha band power was related to low levels of the implicit affiliation motive. No relationships were found for explicit personality measures. Intracranial current density distributions of alpha based on Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (VARETA) source estimations suggests that the source of cortical alpha distribution is located within the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (PFC). The present results are discussed with respect to differential roles of the two hemispheres in social motivation.
Highlights
THE AFFILIATION MOTIVE Affiliation constitutes a basic human need considered to have its evolutionary roots in parental care and social relationships of mammals (Bischof, 1976; McClelland, 1987)
PRESENT RESEARCH AND HYPOTHESES The present study focuses on relationships between individual differences in the affiliation motive and cortical asymmetries using laterality indices in the EEG alpha frequency band and explores the brain sources for potential asymmetries
The affiliation motive was positively correlated with behavioral activation system (BAS)
Summary
THE AFFILIATION MOTIVE Affiliation (or communion) constitutes a basic human need considered to have its evolutionary roots in parental care and social relationships of mammals (Bischof, 1976; McClelland, 1987). 162ff.), which stresses the strong societal relevance of the affiliation motive In addition to these behavioral findings, affiliation has been linked to endocrine processes. Individual differences in the affiliation motive have been linked to increased dopamine levels (McClelland et al, 1987; Sokolowski et al, 1997) and to increased progesterone release in response to affiliation-related stimulation (Schultheiss et al, 2004). This suggests that affiliative processes have specific neural correlates
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