Identity economics and the brain: uncovering the mechanisms of social conflict

Abstract

Social contexts can have dramatic effects on decisions. When individuals recognize each other as coming from the same social group, they can coordinate their actions towards a common goal. Conversely, information about group differences can lead to conflicts both economic and physical. Understanding how social information shapes decision processes is now a core goal both of behavioural economics and neuroeconomics. Here, we describe the foundations for research that combines the theoretical framework from identity economics with the experimental methods of neuroscience. Research at this intersection would fill important gaps in the literature not addressed by current approaches in either of these disciplines, nor within social neuroscience, psychology or other fields. We set forth a simple taxonomy of social contexts based on the information content they provide. And, we highlight the key questions that would be addressed by a new 'identity neuroeconomics'. Such research could serve as an important and novel link between the social and natural sciences.

Figure 1.

A taxonomy for social contexts in experimental design. Four distinct levels of social context are present within experiments in the social and neural sciences. At the simplest level (individual), no social information is present to guide behaviour. Successive levels introduce social information in a context-free manner (anonymous interaction) and then a social context that differentiates individuals within the experiment (generic social context). The highest level experiments introduce meaningful social categories, either through experimental manipulations (induced identity) or through an incorporation of real-world information about individuals' identities and the accompanying social norms (natural identity). Research at this highest level will be critical for modelling social cooperation and conflict.