Emotional intelligence correlates with functional responses to dynamic changes in facial trustworthiness

Killgore, William D. S.; Schwab, Zachary J.; Tkachenko, Olga; Webb, Christian A.; DelDonno, Sophie R.; Kipman, Maia; Rauch, Scott L.; Weber, Marcel

doi:10.1080/17470919.2013.807300

Cited by 30 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In contrast to our previous neuroimaging studies on EI [9,10], no associations between EI and activation within the vmPFC and amygdala were found. This discrepancy is most plausibly accounted for by the present use of backward masking (vs. overt perception), which has been shown to bypass higher cortical processing.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 85%

“…All participants provided written informed consent. Partial data from this sample have been reported elsewhere [7,10], but the associations between EI and maskedanger responses are novel and have not previously been published. This research protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of McLean Hospital and the US Army Human Research Protections Office.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…requiring less neural effort during emotional processing) [9]. A recent study in adults has suggested that higher EI is associated with greater activation of the vmPFC and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in response to dynamic facial expressions that changed in terms of perceived trustworthiness [10]. Thus, EI is associated with the structure and function of a core neurocircuitry involved in affective perception, evaluation, and regulation, particularly with regard to overtly perceived stimuli.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Emotional intelligence is associated with reduced insula responses to masked angry faces

Alkozei

Killgore

2015

NeuroReport

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High levels of emotional intelligence (EI) have been associated with increased success in the workplace, greater quality of personal relationships, and enhanced wellbeing. Evidence suggests that EI is mediated extensively by the interplay of key emotion regions including the amygdala, insula, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, among others. The insula, in particular, is important for processing interoceptive and somatic cues that are interpreted as emotional responses. We investigated the association between EI and functional brain responses within the aforementioned neurocircuitry in response to subliminal presentations of social threat. Fifty-four healthy adults completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and underwent functional magnetic brain imaging while viewing subliminal presentations of faces displaying anger, using a backward masked facial affect paradigm to minimize conscious awareness of the expressed emotion. In response to masked angry faces, the total MSCEIT scores correlated negatively with a cluster of activation located within the left insula, but not with activation in any other region of interest. Considering the insula's role in the processing of interoceptive emotional cues, the results suggest that greater EI is associated with reduced emotional visceral reactivity and/or more accurate interoceptive prediction when confronted with stimuli indicative of social threat.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 85%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Emotional intelligence is associated with reduced insula responses to masked angry faces

Alkozei

Killgore

2015

NeuroReport

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“…The insula is also involved in interoceptive processing (Craig, 2003), emotional forms of empathy (Gu et al, 2012), and emotion regulation (Goldin et al, 2008;Ochsner & Gross, 2005;Ochsner et al, 2004). In relation to trust, there is evidence that the insula is involved in modifying trust-based decisions (Adolphs, 2002;Castle et al, 2012;Dimoka, 2010), and some recent studies have shown that the insula plays roles in both trust (Killgore et al, 2013) and distrust (Winston et al, 2002). Together, these findings indicate that the insula may facilitate negative emotion attribution and heightened arousal when forming negative interpersonal social attitudes about others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trying to trust: Brain activity during interpersonal social attitude change

Filkowski

Anderson

Haas

2015

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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Interpersonal trust and distrust are important components of human social interaction. Although several studies have shown that brain function is associated with either trusting or distrusting others, very little is known regarding brain function during the control of social attitudes, including trust and distrust. This study was designed to investigate the neural mechanisms involved when people attempt to control their attitudes of trust or distrust toward another person. We used a novel control-of-attitudes fMRI task, which involved explicit instructions to control attitudes of interpersonal trust and distrust. Control of trust or distrust was operationally defined as changes in trustworthiness evaluations of neutral faces before and after the control-of-attitudes fMRI task. Overall, participants (n = 60) evaluated faces paired with the distrust instruction as being less trustworthy than faces paired with the trust instruction following the control-of-distrust task. Within the brain, both the control-of-trust and control-ofdistrust conditions were associated with increased temporoparietal junction, precuneus (PrC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and medial prefrontal cortex activity. Individual differences in the control of trust were associated with PrC activity, and individual differences in the control of distrust were associated with IFG activity. Together, these findings identify a brain network involved in the explicit control of distrust and trust and indicate that the PrC and IFG may serve to consolidate interpersonal social attitudes.

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“…A previous study reported that faces expressing positive emotions, such as a smiley face, were more likely to be trusted, while those expressing negative emotions, such as an angry face, were less likely to be trusted [5]. Furthermore, viewing a less trustworthy face stimulated brain areas, such as the amygdala, that are involved in emotions and caused unpleasant emotions toward the other person [4,16]. In the present study, when linguistic information and a facial expression were congruent, a negative face made the other person feel more unpleasant, have decreased trust, and donate a significantly smaller amount of money.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Facial Expression and Language on Trustworthiness and Brain Activities

Morioka

Osumi

Okamoto

et al. 2015

International Journal of Brain Science

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Social communication uses verbal and nonverbal language. We examined the degree of trust and brain activity when verbal and facial expressions are incongruent. Fourteen healthy volunteers viewed photographs of 8 people with pleasant (smile) or unpleasant expressions (disgust) alone or combined with a verbal [positive/negative] expression. As an index for degree of trust, subjects were asked to offer a donation when told that the person in the photograph was troubled financially. Positive emotions and degree of trust were evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained at 170-240 ms after viewing the photographs. Brain activity during incongruent conditions was localized using standardized Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography (sLORETA). VAS scores for positive × smile condition were significantly higher than those for the other conditions ( < 0.05). The donation offered was significantly lower for incongruence between verbal and facial expressions, particularly for negative × smile condition. EEG showed more activity in the parietal lobe with incongruent than with congruent conditions. Incongruence [negative × smile] elicited the least positive emotion, degree of trust, and amount of offer. Our results indicate that incongruent sensory information increased activity in the parietal lobe, which may be a basis of mentalizing.

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Emotional intelligence correlates with functional responses to dynamic changes in facial trustworthiness

Cited by 30 publications

References 57 publications

Emotional intelligence is associated with reduced insula responses to masked angry faces

Emotional intelligence is associated with reduced insula responses to masked angry faces

Trying to trust: Brain activity during interpersonal social attitude change

Effects of Facial Expression and Language on Trustworthiness and Brain Activities

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