Neural sensitivity to personal and vicarious reward differentially relates to prosociality and well-being

Abstract

Individuals stably vary in their responses to rewards, but researchers have not yet determined whether sensitivity to rewarding outcomes translates across social and non-social contexts or whether different forms of reward sensitivity relate to distinct behavioral tendencies. We tested for responsiveness to different types of rewards by assessing individuals’ neural sensitivity to personal vs. vicarious monetary reward outcomes and explored how responses to each related to prosociality and well-being. Forty-six participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning while winning money for themselves and observing a friend and stranger win money. All types of reward outcomes engaged the ventral striatum, but neural sensitivity to rewards for the self and for others were uncorrelated across individuals. Further, while sensitivity to rewards for the self or a close friend correlated with individuals’ psychological well-being, only sensitivity to a friend’s rewards correlated with individuals’ prosociality. These findings highlight the value of independently assessing responsiveness to different types of reward and illuminate affective mechanisms that may promote prosocial behavior and well-being.