Research Portal

Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Standard Standard

Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game. / Bilderbeck, A.C.; Brown, G.D.; Read, J. et al.
In: Psychological Science, Vol. 25, No. 7, 07.2014, p. 1303-1313.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

HarvardHarvard

Bilderbeck, AC, Brown, GD, Read, J, Woolrich, M, Cowen, PJ, Behrens, TE & Rogers, R 2014, 'Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game', Psychological Science, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 1303-1313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614527830

APA

Bilderbeck, A. C., Brown, G. D., Read, J., Woolrich, M., Cowen, P. J., Behrens, T. E., & Rogers, R. (2014). Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1303-1313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614527830

CBE

Bilderbeck AC, Brown GD, Read J, Woolrich M, Cowen PJ, Behrens TE, Rogers R. 2014. Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game. Psychological Science. 25(7):1303-1313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614527830

MLA

Bilderbeck, A.C. et al. "Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game". Psychological Science. 2014, 25(7). 1303-1313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614527830

VancouverVancouver

Bilderbeck AC, Brown GD, Read J, Woolrich M, Cowen PJ, Behrens TE et al. Serotonin and Social Norms: Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game. Psychological Science. 2014 Jul;25(7):1303-1313. Epub 2014 May 8. doi: 10.1177/0956797614527830

Author

Bilderbeck, A.C. ; Brown, G.D. ; Read, J. et al. / Serotonin and Social Norms : Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game. In: Psychological Science. 2014 ; Vol. 25, No. 7. pp. 1303-1313.

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Serotonin and Social Norms

T2 - Tryptophan Depletion Impairs Social Comparison and Leads to Resource Depletion in a Multiplayer Harvesting Game

AU - Bilderbeck, A.C.

AU - Brown, G.D.

AU - Read, J.

AU - Woolrich, M.

AU - Cowen, P.J.

AU - Behrens, T.E.

AU - Rogers, R.

PY - 2014/7

Y1 - 2014/7

N2 - How do people sustain resources for the benefit of individuals and communities and avoid the tragedy of the commons, in which shared resources become exhausted? In the present study, we examined the role of serotonin activity and social norms in the management of depletable resources. Healthy adults, alongside social partners, completed a multiplayer resource-dilemma game in which they repeatedly harvested from a partially replenishable monetary resource. Dietary tryptophan depletion, leading to reduced serotonin activity, was associated with aggressive harvesting strategies and disrupted use of the social norms given by distributions of other players’ harvests. Tryptophan-depleted participants more frequently exhausted the resource completely and also accumulated fewer rewards than participants who were not tryptophan depleted. Our findings show that rank-based social comparisons are crucial to the management of depletable resources, and that serotonin mediates responses to social norms.

AB - How do people sustain resources for the benefit of individuals and communities and avoid the tragedy of the commons, in which shared resources become exhausted? In the present study, we examined the role of serotonin activity and social norms in the management of depletable resources. Healthy adults, alongside social partners, completed a multiplayer resource-dilemma game in which they repeatedly harvested from a partially replenishable monetary resource. Dietary tryptophan depletion, leading to reduced serotonin activity, was associated with aggressive harvesting strategies and disrupted use of the social norms given by distributions of other players’ harvests. Tryptophan-depleted participants more frequently exhausted the resource completely and also accumulated fewer rewards than participants who were not tryptophan depleted. Our findings show that rank-based social comparisons are crucial to the management of depletable resources, and that serotonin mediates responses to social norms.

UR - http://pss.sagepub.com/content/by/supplemental-data

U2 - 10.1177/0956797614527830

DO - 10.1177/0956797614527830

M3 - Article

VL - 25

SP - 1303

EP - 1313

JO - Psychological Science

JF - Psychological Science

SN - 0956-7976

IS - 7

ER -