Influence of Emotional Outcome Valence on Sense of Agency in a Free Choice Task

Abstract

Sense of agency (SoA) is a subjective feeling of being the author of one's voluntary actions and their outcomes. Several studies demonstrate that SoA is modulated when the outcomes are affective. However, the research on the influence of emotional outcomes on SoA have yielded somewhat contradictory results. Some studies suggest that the SoA is increased when the outcomes are positive while others conversely suggest that it is diminished compared to negative outcomes, specifically in a moral or social context. This study examined the influence of outcome valence on SoA with a temporal binding paradigm, by manipulating emotional valence and outcome delays. Participants chose between two actions with key presses which randomly produced one of positive (happy), negative (sad) or neutral emoticons after varying delays and judged the interval between their key press and the outcome. The results revealed a significant interaction between outcome valence and delay, which suggested that specifically at 500 ms of delay, perceived intervals were reliably shorter (i.e., stronger binding) between key presses and negative outcomes compared to positive outcomes. Our findings suggest that a negative valence might improve an individual's capacity for SoA when they are presented with an action choice and are unable to predict the outcomes in a social-emotional environment.