An ERP Study On The Influence Of Intergroup Bias On Fairness

Fairness,as a basic social norm of human society,is reflected in all aspects of human social life.Since ancient times,our country has the idea of "Do not worry about being scarce but about inequality".Nowadays,fairness is also one of the basic content of socialist core values and promote social progress and development.Researchers use the Ultimatum game(UG)to discuss human pursuit of fairness.And found that individuals will show contradictory in-group bias or black sheep effect.In addition,the current research pays little attention to the influence of intergroup bias on fairness emotions.Therefore,the main purpose of this research are below:Validate the effect of intergroup bias in fair interaction,and explore the mechanism of the influence of intergroup bias on fairness;Furthermore,explore the moderating effect of acceptance strategies on emotions of intergroup bias and fairness.In experiment one,we intend to examine the impact of intergroup bias on perceptions of fairness from the behavioral and physiological perspective.The study adopts a two-factor mixed experimental design of 2(group type: in-group,out-group)× 2(fair level: fair,unfair)to examine the impact of intergroup bias on perceptions of fairness.The main analysis contents are rejection rate,subjective emotional experience scores,the amplitude of MFN and P300 components.The results show:(1)Behavior research shows that individuals have obvious fairness preferences,the rejection rate and reaction times of unfair distribution schemes proposed by group members in UG is lower,subjective emotional experience scores are higher,thus,there is a significant phenomenon of in-group bias.(2)The ERP results show that the unfair distribution plan induces a more negative MFN volatility,and the fair distribution plan induces a positive P300 volatility.In the early component MFN,the unfair distribution plan proposed by the in-group members induces more negative MFN volatility,and the fair distribution plan proposed by the out-group members induces more negative MFN volatility.In the late component P300,the fair distribution plan proposed by the inner and outer group members all induced a positive P300 volatility.Compared with the commonly used cognitive reappraisal and expression inhibition in the past,the emotion regulation strategy based on acceptance has the characteristics of not occupying cognitive resources and stability.Therefore,in experiment two,we intend to examine the influence of using different acceptance strategies on intergroup prejudice and fairness preferences.The study adopts 2(group type: in-group,out-group)× 2(fair level: fair,unfair)× 3(acceptance strategy: conscious acceptance strategy,unconscious acceptance strategy,control group)within-subject experimental design,the main analysis contents are rejection rate,subjective emotional experience scores.The results show:(1)Both unconscious and conscious acceptance strategies reduce the rejection rate of unfair distribution plans and improved the subjective emotional experience score.(2)the unconscious acceptance strategy strongly promotes the in-group bias under unfair distribution,which verifies the fair preference automatic hypothesis.(3)the conscious acceptance strategy strongly promotes the derogation of out-groups under fair distribution,which verifies the controlled-processing hypothesis.To conclude,during inter-group interaction,individuals have significant inter-group bias and fairness preferences and they both trigger the individual’s corresponding emotional experience.The use of acceptance strategies can effectively adjust the emotional response generated by intergroup bias and fairness preferences in economic games and further enhance the in-group bias,so as to gain recognition in the group and strengthen the cohesion between members of the group.At the same time,it also shows the importance of acceptance strategies in the field of fair perception and emotional processing.