Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ): development and validation

Lucy Foulkes,Eamon Mccrory,Craig S Neumann,Essi Viding

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00201

Lucy Foulkes, Eamon Mccrory + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00201

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Abstract

Human beings seek out social interactions as a source of reward. To date, there have been limited attempts to identify different forms of social reward, and little is known about how the value of social rewards might vary between individuals. This study aimed to address both these issues by developing the Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ), a measure of individual differences in the value of different social rewards. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was run on an initial set of 75 items (N = 305). Based on this analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then conducted on a second sample (N = 505) with a refined 23-item scale. This analysis was used to test a six-factor structure, which resulted in good model fit (CFI = 0.96, RSMEA = 0.07). The factors represent six subscales of social reward defined as follows: Admiration; Negative Social Potency; Passivity; Prosocial Interactions; Sexual Reward; and Sociability. All subscales demonstrated good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Each subscale also showed a distinct pattern of associations with external correlates measuring personality traits, attitudes, and goals, thus demonstrating construct validity. Taken together, the findings suggest that the SRQ is a reliable, valid measure that can be used to assess individual differences in the value experienced from different social rewards.

Highlights

Social anhedonia is associated with depression (Blanchard et al, 2001; Forbes, 2009) and a reduced responsiveness to some social rewards is seen in autism (Dawson et al, 1998; Zeeland et al, 2010)
Using Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we identified six subscales of the Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ) that equate to six social reward domains: Admiration; Negative Social Potency; Passivity; Prosocial Interactions; Sexual Relationships; and Sociability
The SRQ is the first measure of individual differences in the value of different types of social rewards

Summary

Introduction

Viewing static images of smiling faces results in increased activation in the striatum, part of the brain’s reward network (Spreckelmeyer et al, 2009; Rademacher et al, 2013). More complex social experiences, such as sharing with a friend or being liked, are found to activate the brain’s reward network and are subjectively rated as enjoyable (sharing: Fareri et al, 2012; being liked: Izuma et al, 2008). Social anhedonia is associated with depression (Blanchard et al, 2001; Forbes, 2009) and a reduced responsiveness to some social rewards is seen in autism (Dawson et al, 1998; Zeeland et al, 2010). It is well established that social interactions are a source of reward for typically developing individuals, and that atypical social reward processing can be associated with clinical disorder

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