Vagal activity is quadratically related to prosocial traits, prosocial emotions, and observer perceptions of prosociality.

Abstract

In the present article, we introduce the quadratic vagal activity-prosociality hypothesis, a theoretical framework for understanding the vagus nerve's involvement in prosociality. We argue that vagus nerve activity supports prosocial behavior by regulating physiological systems that enable emotional expression, empathy for others' mental and emotional states, the regulation of one's own distress, and the experience of positive emotions. However, we contend that extremely high levels of vagal activity can be detrimental to prosociality. We present 3 studies providing support for our model, finding consistent evidence of a quadratic relationship between respiratory sinus arrhythmia--the degree to which the vagus nerve modulates the heart rate--and prosociality. Individual differences in vagal activity were quadratically related to prosocial traits (Study 1), prosocial emotions (Study 2), and outside ratings of prosociality by complete strangers (Study 3). Thus, too much or too little vagal activity appears to be detrimental to prosociality. The present article provides the 1st theoretical and empirical account of the nonlinear relationship between vagal activity and prosociality.

Dominant hemisphere lateralization of cortical parasympathetic control as revealed by frontotemporal dementia

“…Even in healthy subjects, higher resting vagal tone has been associated with positive mood, optimism, and personality traits that promote social engagement (31,44). Exaggerated resting vagal tone, however, may also be maladaptive and put individuals at risk for dysregulated positive emotion (i.e., mania) or reduced prosociality (63,64).…”

Intersections between cardiac physiology, emotion regulation and interpersonal warmth in preschoolers: Implications for drug abuse prevention from translational neuroscience

“…This positive association between RSA and prosocial behavior is in keeping with theoretical postulations that vagal tone is particularly important for interpersonal behavior and that it allows for sustained attention in the context of safe social interactions (Porges and Furman, 2011; Porges, 2001). In a set of studies with adults, Kogan et al (2014) also found evidence for a U-shaped relation of vagal reactivity to prosocial behavior (see also Beauchaine et al, 2007; Marcovitch et al, 2011 for similar quadratic relations to RSA withdrawal). Kogan et al (2014) contend that some degree of sympathetic arousal (i.e., moderate parasympathetic tone) is necessary to effectively demonstrate empathy for others while maintaining a calm, attentive state.…”

The development of compassionate engagement and action scales for self and others

“…Our approach is based on a standard definition of compassion as a 'sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it' [21,46,64,104]. The impetus for this research was inspired by a wealth of research showing e that developing caring and compassion-focused motives for self and others has a range of benefits: on genetic expression [14,31,109], physiological processes [9,68,71,73,107,108], psychological processes [63,64,66,108], and social relationships [16,18,100]. Cultivating compassion for self and others has also become a central focus for the development of psychotherapies [35,37,40,61,67,69,77,96].…”