Decreased Empathic Responses to the ‘Lucky Guy’ in Love: The Effect of Intrasexual Competition

Abstract

People have a greater desire to date highly attractive partners, which induces intrasexual competition between same-sex individuals. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore whether and how intrasexual competition modulates pain empathy for a same-sex rival and the underlying neural mechanism. Participants were scanned while processing the pain of a same-sex ‘lucky guy’ who had an attractive partner and one with a plain partner. The results revealed that participants reported lower pain intensity for the lucky guy. Neurally, reduced pain-related activations in anterior insula and anterior mid-cingulate cortex and increased activations in right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and medial prefrontal gyrus (MPFC) were found for the lucky guy compared to the one with a plain partner. Right SFG and MPFC activations could predict participants’ subsequent pain intensity ratings for the lucky guy. These findings suggest intrasexual competition can modulate normal empathic responses.

Shared and distinct functional networks for empathy and pain processing: a systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies

“…Empathy, compared to direct pain experience, demonstrated preferential bilateral activation in supramarginal regions, which extended superiorly to the supramarginal gyrus. Although supramarginal activations are frequently reported in fMRI empathy literature, their specific relevance is often not subject to discussion or interpretation, particularly if the basic empathy contrast is not the primary aim of the research ( Jackson et al., 2006 ; Guo et al., 2013 ; Fan et al., 2014 ; Berlingeri et al., 2016 ; Zheng et al., 2016 ; Benuzzi et al., 2018 ). Of the many studies contributing supramarginal activations to the present ALE analysis, few discussed their relevance.…”

Schadenfreude and Gluckschmerz

“…The broad point about the way competition shapes the likelihood of our feeling schadenfreude and gluckschmerz holds in the work-a-day world in which we vie for scarce resources and the spoils of achieving higher status and prestige. Sexual competition (Colyn & Gordon, 2013) and rivalry generally (Shamay-Tsoory, Ahronberg-Kirschenbaum, & Bauminger-Zviely, 2014) should intensify this pattern, as the adaptive implications of winning and losing are arguably so direct (Zheng et al, 2016). Sexual selection is the bottom line of evolution, and so, typically, we should have less empathy for our sexual competition (e.g., Griskevicius et al, 2009; Stockley & Campbell, 2013; Zheng et al, 2016).…”