9. Groups and Identity

Self-Referential Processing

mPFC activation when thinking about self and close others

Cultural/Collective Self

Defined by group membership and shared cultural beliefs

Ongoing Self

Based on personal memories, traits, and motivations

Sensorimotor Self

Based on sense of agency and embodiment

Cultural Self

Chinese participants show overlapping mPFC activity for self and mother unlike Americans

Own-Race Effect

Increased FFA activation reflects perceptual expertise for same-race faces

Implicit Association Test

Measures automatic associations linked to neural responses

Race Processing Network

FFA categorization, amygdala evaluation, ACC and DLPFC regulate bias

Amygdala Bias

Amygdala activity correlates with implicit bias but not explicit attitudes

Stereotype Content Model

Warmth and competence determine emotional and neural responses to groups

Dehumanization

Low warmth and competence groups show reduced mPFC activation indicating reduced mentalizing

Stereotype Content Model (Fiske)

Warmth and competence predict emotional response

High Warmth & Low Competence

Older, disabled [Pity]

High Warmth & High Competence

Ingroup, allies, middle class [Pride]

Low Warmth & High Competence

Rich, professionals [Envy]

Low Warmth & Low Competence

Poor, immigrant, homeless [Disgust]

Event-Related Negativity

Increased ERN when stereotypes are violated indicating conflict monitoring

Agency (Libet)

Motor cortex activity precedes conscious intention suggesting agency is partly constructed after action

Out-of-Body Illusion

Synchronous stroking of real and virtual body shifts perceived self-location while asynchronous or object conditions do not

Autobiographical Memory Model (Conway)

Memories are organized into life themes and reconstructed based on current beliefs

Self-Consistency Bias

People reconstruct past attitudes to align with current self creating a stable identity