Race and reciprocity
Description
This thesis explores how social decision-making, specifically reciprocity, is affected by the variable of race. Behavioral and fMRI brain activation data were collected while participants played a version of the Trust Game (Berg et al., 1995), in which the participants are trusted or not trusted with an investment and given a choice to reciprocate or keep the money. The stages of this game represented a 2 (Same/OtherRace) x 2 (Trust/NoTrust) x 2 (Reciprocate/Keep) factorial design, and trials were in block-pair (Trust-Trust and NoTrust-Trust) design. We analyzed differences in behavioral data given conditions defined by race and trust, and we found a numerical difference in reciprocity rates between same-race versus other-race partners, as well as significantly higher reciprocity rates with other race partners in White versus Black participants. fMRI brain activation data was preprocessed in FSL, although full intended analysis was prevented by a substantial field of view issue. However, based on the behavioral results, we expect future experiments to show significantly more activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLFPC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in White participants. Based on the literature review, we also expect activation in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC), insula, ventral prefrontal cortex (VPFC), and striatum in different conditions during the game as described in the Current Study section. In this thesis, I will provide how the findings from this investigation add to the growing scientific literature on the social and cultural factors that affect decision-making including trust, reciprocity, identity and race.