Ideological brains: mapping individual variations in national ideology on variations in brain dynamics during a naturalistic viewing paradigm

Poster Session B - Sunday, April 14, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Po-Yuan Alan Hsiao¹, Feng-Chun Ben Chou¹, Chih-Yuan Edward Chang¹, Pin-Hao Andy Chen¹; ¹Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University

Since the mid-20th century, the complex interplay of two distinct ideologies, especially regarding the China-Taiwan relationship, has been prominent among individuals who live in Taiwan. This study investigates how Greater Chinese and Taiwanese Refinement ideologies influence brain dynamics and subjective experiences in two independent studies. In Study 1, 52 participants (22 males, 30 females; mean age 21.15) watched a Pro-China video. Those with a stronger Greater Chinese ideology reported higher liking (r = 0.516, p < 0.001) and feelings of resonance (r = 0.426, p = 0.001), while Taiwanese Refinement ideology had no significant effect on these feelings (liking: r = -0.019, p = 0.894; resonance: r = 0.070, p = 0.622). Study 2 involved 60 participants (28 males, 32 females; mean age 22.05) undergoing fMRI while viewing the same video. Intersubject representational similarity analysis showed that Greater Chinese ideology corresponded with similarity in brain dynamics in areas related to executive control processing, including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), supplementary motor area (SMA), and insula, as well as areas involved in reward processing, such as the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). No significant brain dynamic associations were found for Taiwanese Refinement ideology. This research demonstrates that national ideologies significantly impact subjective experiences and neural processing when exposed to ideologically congruent stimuli. It highlights the profound effects of individual ideological differences on cognitive processing in response to ideologically charged content, indicating a complex relationship between personal ideology and brain dynamics.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Other