Give me your point of view: an EEG study on the role of perpective taking in the assessment of value-loaded statements.

Abstract

Recent neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies have pointed to the impact of our value-system on the way we process value-loaded language. In these studies well-known ERP components, such as the N400 and the Late Positive Potential, have been taken to reflect rapid evaluation of and reaction to value-laden statements. In the same line of research, the current study used ERPs to examine processing of value-loaded statements, in relation to the personality trait of perspective-taking. People with high perspective-taking skills exhibited an early ERP effect, which discriminated value-inconsistent from value-consistent statements. This effect did not appear in the low perspective-taking group. I suggest that this divergence reveals a differential organization of the value-systems in the two groups, due to their differences with respect to the personality trait of perspective-taking. Overall, the present findings are highlighting an interesting interaction between language-processing, ideology, and perspective-taking.