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. 2017 Jun;38(6):2923-2938.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.23562. Epub 2017 Mar 13.

Entrepreneurial and parental love-are they the same?

Affiliations

Entrepreneurial and parental love-are they the same?

Marja-Liisa Halko et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Here we tested the hypothesis that entrepreneurs' emotional experience and brain responses toward their own firm resemble those of parents toward their own children. Using fMRI, we measured the brain activity while male entrepreneurs viewed pictures of their own and of a familiar firm, and while fathers viewed pictures of their own and of a familiar child. The entrepreneurs who self-rated as being very closely attached with their venture showed a similar suppression of activity in the posterior cingulate cortex, temporoparietal junction, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex as fathers during viewing pictures of their own children versus familiar children. In addition, individual differences in the confidence trait influenced the neural encoding of both paternal and entrepreneurial processing. For underconfident fathers, a picture of one's own child was associated with stronger activation and for overconfident fathers with weaker activation in the amygdala and in caudate nucleus, a brain structure associated with processing of rewards. Similar association with activation, yet more widespread in the emotional processing network, was observed in entrepreneurs suggesting a similar neural basis for increased sensitivity to threats and potential risks concerning one's venture and child. In conclusion, both entrepreneurial and parental love seem to be supported by brain structures associated with reward and emotional processing as well as social understanding. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2923-2938, 2017. © 2017 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: affect; behavior; entrepreneurship; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trial structure. Upper panels, the task of the fathers. The photos of own child/children and a familiar child/children were presented in an alternating order for 30 s each. Note that the photos in the figure are just example photos; the children in the photos are not related to the study. Lower panels, the task of the entrepreneurs. The pictures of subject's own firm and a familiar firm were presented in an alternating order for 30 s each. The pictures of the firms depicted business idea, logo, product, or key personnel, and the pictures related with one's own firm and with the familiar firm were chosen for each subject from the same categories. Subjects were instructed to think about things and events related to the picture on the screen. Each picture was followed by a count‐back distraction task. Subjects saw a number on the screen and their task was to count back from the number in increments of seven as long as the number was on the screen. The total duration of the task was ∼13 min. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 2
Figure 2
Love components. Subjects rated how strongly the following three components relate to their relationship with their venture/child: intimacy (reflects a feeling of connection/emotional bond), passion (reflects a drive and motivational energy), and commitment (reflects a decision of maintaining the relationship). The scale was from 1 to 5, 1 = not at all, 3 = moderately, 5 = very strongly. The bars represent mean ratings for the three components and their average (love). Error bars indicate the standard error of the mean. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Paternal love. Panel A. Activations revealed when fathers viewed pictures of familiar children versus pictures of their own children. For illustration, voxel‐level threshold of P < 0.005, minimal cluster size 20 voxels of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3. Panel B. Average betas from bilateral caudate nucleus (anatomically defined), STS, amygdala, middle insula and vACC (known − own contrast results). Betas calculated from a 6‐mm‐radius spheres, center at −61 −6 −11 and 63 −6 −9 (STS), −24 −2 −29 and 26 −2 −29 (amygdala), −44 12 −9 and 49 16 −13 (middle insula), −8 49 −6 and 11 49 −6 (vACC). Error bars indicate the standard error of mean (SEM). Two‐sided t tests, *P < 0.10, **P < 0.05, ***P < 0.01. Panel C. Average betas from bilateral caudate nucleus and amygdala (own − known contrast results) and fathers individual confidence scores. Individuals with confidence score > 0 are overconfident. The scatterplots include regression lines for visualization only. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 4
Figure 4
Entrepreneurial love. Panel A. Activations revealed when entrepreneurs viewed pictures of their own firm versus pictures of a familiar firm. For illustration, voxel‐level threshold of P < 0.005, minimal cluster size 20 voxels of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3. Panel B. Activations revealed when entrepreneurs viewed pictures of familiar firms versus pictures of their own firm. For illustration, voxel‐level threshold of P < 0.005, minimal cluster size 20 voxels of 2 × 2 × 2 mm3. Panel C. Average betas from bilateral caudate nucleus (anatomically defined), STS, amygdala, middle insula and vACC (known − own contrast results). Betas calculated from a 6 mm radius spheres, center at −61 −6 −11 and 63 −6 −9 (STS), −24 −2 −29 and 26 −2 −29 (amygdala), −44 12 −9 and 49 16 −13 (middle insula), −8 49 −6 and 11 49 −6 (vACC). Error bars indicate the standard error of mean (SEM). Two‐sided t‐tests, *P < 0.10, **P < 0.05, ***P < 0.01. Panel D. Average betas from right caudate nucleus and bilateral STS, amygdala and middle insula (own − known contrast results) and entrepreneurs individual confidence scores. Individuals with confidence score > 0 are overconfident. The scatterplots include regression lines for visualization only. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 5
Figure 5
Parental versus entrepreneurial love. Panel A. Activations revealed when fathers viewed pictures of familiar children versus pictures of their own children (yellow blobs), and activations revealed by the contrast testing the group differences (entrepreneurs − fathers) in the own − known contrast (red blobs). Overlapping areas in orange. Panel B. Correlation between DMPFC activation and entrepreneur − firm closeness scores; average betas from DMPFC cluster and individual IOS scores (betas calculated from a 6‐mm‐radius sphere, center at 8 36 56). Panels C–E. Correlation between PCC and TPJ activation and entrepreneur − firm closeness scores; average betas from PCC, left TPJ and right TPJ cluster and individual IOS scores (betas calculated from a 6‐mm‐radius sphere, center at 8 −50 24 (PCC), −46 −50 34 (TPJ left), and 50 −48 24 (TPJ right)). [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]

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