Social Belonging and Socioeconomic Status in the Processing of Persuasive Messages

Abstract

Previous research has unveiled the surprising effects of belongingness on individual tendencies toward a healthy and conscientious lifestyle. Baumeister and Leary suggest that belongingness is “fundamental” and “almost as compelling a need as food,” influencing executive cognitive functions: A deficit in belonging can deplete cognitive resources needed to effectively evaluate persuasive messages about healthy lifestyles, resulting in behavioral consequences. However, the real-time neural mechanisms that presumably underlie this relationship have remained unexplored, highlighting a crucial empirical gap in understanding these cognitive processes. Thus, we examined the associations between belongingness and activity in the valuation and self-referential networks during persuasive message processing, as well as the associations between socioeconomic status and activity in these networks. We found positive associations between belongingness and activity in both of these networks. Additionally, we observed an interaction between belongingness and socioeconomic status linked to activity in the self-referential network. Our findings enhance understanding of the cognitive processes in the relationship between belongingness and lifestyle choices by substantiating the link between belongingness and executive cognitive processing. These findings provide insights into how differences in belongingness and socioeconomic status correlate with cognitive mechanisms behind decision-making, with policy implications for regarding resource allocation to promote healthier living.

Keywords: social belongingness, socioeconomic status, health messages, persuasion, self-referential network, valuation network, fMRI, brain