The Neural Correlates of Persuasion: A Common Network across Cultures and Media

■ Persuasion is at the root of countless social exchanges in which one person or group is motivated to have another share its beliefs, desires, or behavioral intentions. Here, we report the first three functional magnetic resonance imaging studies to investigate the neurocognitive networks associated with feeling persuaded by an argument. In the first two studies, American and Korean participants, respectively, were exposed to a number of text-based persuasive messages. In both Study 1 and Study 2, feeling persuaded was associated with increased activity in posterior superior temporal sulcus bilaterally, temporal pole bilaterally, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest a discrete set of underlying mechanisms in the moment that the persuasion process occurs, and are strengthened by the fact that the results replicated across two diverse linguistic and cultural groups. Additionally, a third study using region-of-interest analyses demonstrated that neural activity in t...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: JOCN
• Authors: Emily B. Falk, Lian Rameson, Elliot T. Berkman, Betty Liao, Yoona Kang, Tristen K. Inagaki, Matthew D. Lieberman
• Keywords: Countless Social Exchanges, Cultural Groups, JOCN 2010, Persuasion