Bilderbeck, Amy C., Brown, G. D. A. (Gordon D. A.), Read, Judi, Woolrich, Mark W., Cowen, P. J., Behrens, Timothy E. J. and Rogers, Robert D. (2014) Serotonin and social norms : tryptophan depletion impairs social comparison and leads to resource depletion in a multiplayer harvesting game. Psychological Science, Volume 25 (Number 7). pp. 1303-1313. doi:10.1177/0956797614527830

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Abstract

How do people sustain resources for the benefit of individuals and communities and avoid the tragedy of the commons, in which shared resources become exhausted? In the present study, we examined the role of serotonin activity and social norms in the management of depletable resources. Healthy adults, alongside social partners, completed a multiplayer resource-dilemma game in which they repeatedly harvested from a partially replenishable monetary resource. Dietary tryptophan depletion, leading to reduced serotonin activity, was associated with aggressive harvesting strategies and disrupted use of the social norms given by distributions of other players’ harvests. Tryptophan-depleted participants more frequently exhausted the resource completely and also accumulated fewer rewards than participants who were not tryptophan depleted. Our findings show that rank-based social comparisons are crucial to the management of depletable resources, and that serotonin mediates responses to social norms.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Resource allocation -- Physiological aspects, Serotonin, Social norms
Journal or Publication Title:	Psychological Science
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN:	0956-7976
Official Date:	July 2014
Dates:	Date Event July 2014 Published 8 May 2014 Available 3 February 2014 Accepted 24 July 2014 Submitted
Volume:	Volume 25
Number:	Number 7
Page Range:	pp. 1303-1313
DOI:	10.1177/0956797614527830
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
Funder:	Medical Research Council (Great Britain) (MRC), Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Grant number:	G0700410 (MRC), ES/K002201/1 (ESRC)

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