Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity
Social equity consists of opportunity equity and outcome equity, where outcome equity refers to the equitable distribution of resource, while opportunity equity refers to equivalent sets of opportunities to obtain a satisfactory outcome, ensuring equality in expected payoffs rather than the actual p...
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004671 |
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| author | Qi Li Ya Zheng Jing Xiao Kesong Hu Zhong Yang |
| author_facet | Qi Li Ya Zheng Jing Xiao Kesong Hu Zhong Yang |
| author_sort | Qi Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social equity consists of opportunity equity and outcome equity, where outcome equity refers to the equitable distribution of resource, while opportunity equity refers to equivalent sets of opportunities to obtain a satisfactory outcome, ensuring equality in expected payoffs rather than the actual payoffs. Previous studies showed the existence of inequity aversion for opportunity inequality and identified some differences between opportunity equity and outcome equity in the behavior pattern of evaluation and reaction processes. However, the commonalities and distinctions in brain activity during the fairness decision-making of opportunity equity and outcome equity remain unclear. Our study used a modified version of the ultimatum game (UG) and the classic UG, and recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) data to investigate underlying neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making of opportunity equity and outcome equity. The EEG results revealed that both shared the same components of the P300 and delta bands associated with reward processing. Compared to outcome equity, opportunity equity did not identify conflict-related medial frontal negativity (MFN) and theta bands, but showed differences in the P2 and beta bands. Moreover, we used a computational modeling approach to estimate the utility for each trial, and found that larger P2 amplitudes were associated with lower utility in opportunity distribution, while larger P300 amplitudes were associated with higher utility in outcome distribution. Our findings provide electrophysiological evidence for the existence of opportunity equity and shed light on the cognitive processing disparities between opportunity equity and outcome equity. These results not only validate and expand the theory of inequality aversion but also empirically support the targeted resolution of social inequalities in various contexts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ac540b2ba454491daa94f03bd0ab45bd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj-art-ac540b2ba454491daa94f03bd0ab45bd2025-01-11T06:38:32ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-01-01305120970Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equityQi Li0Ya Zheng1Jing Xiao2Kesong Hu3Zhong Yang4Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, ChinaDepartment of Psychology, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR 72701, USAInstitute of Brain Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China; Department of Psychology, Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China; Corresponding authors at: Present address: 2318 Yuhang Tang Road, Yuhang District, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China.Social equity consists of opportunity equity and outcome equity, where outcome equity refers to the equitable distribution of resource, while opportunity equity refers to equivalent sets of opportunities to obtain a satisfactory outcome, ensuring equality in expected payoffs rather than the actual payoffs. Previous studies showed the existence of inequity aversion for opportunity inequality and identified some differences between opportunity equity and outcome equity in the behavior pattern of evaluation and reaction processes. However, the commonalities and distinctions in brain activity during the fairness decision-making of opportunity equity and outcome equity remain unclear. Our study used a modified version of the ultimatum game (UG) and the classic UG, and recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) data to investigate underlying neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making of opportunity equity and outcome equity. The EEG results revealed that both shared the same components of the P300 and delta bands associated with reward processing. Compared to outcome equity, opportunity equity did not identify conflict-related medial frontal negativity (MFN) and theta bands, but showed differences in the P2 and beta bands. Moreover, we used a computational modeling approach to estimate the utility for each trial, and found that larger P2 amplitudes were associated with lower utility in opportunity distribution, while larger P300 amplitudes were associated with higher utility in outcome distribution. Our findings provide electrophysiological evidence for the existence of opportunity equity and shed light on the cognitive processing disparities between opportunity equity and outcome equity. These results not only validate and expand the theory of inequality aversion but also empirically support the targeted resolution of social inequalities in various contexts.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004671EEGFairness decision-makingOpportunity equityOutcome equityUltimatum game |
| spellingShingle | Qi Li Ya Zheng Jing Xiao Kesong Hu Zhong Yang Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity NeuroImage EEG Fairness decision-making Opportunity equity Outcome equity Ultimatum game |
| title | Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity |
| title_full | Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity |
| title_fullStr | Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity |
| title_short | Neural mechanisms of fairness decision-making: An EEG comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity |
| title_sort | neural mechanisms of fairness decision making an eeg comparative study on opportunity equity and outcome equity |
| topic | EEG Fairness decision-making Opportunity equity Outcome equity Ultimatum game |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004671 |
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