Efficiency Recalibrates Social-Emotional Trade-Offs Behind Partner Choice in Direct Reciprocity through Intention-Specific Neural Bases.

ABSTRACT: Direct reciprocity, in which beneficiaries return favors to benefactors, is a cornerstone of human cooperation. Previous empirical work addresses partner control-how individuals decide whether and how much to reciprocate-whereas the equally critical dimension of partner choice, deciding whom to reciprocate when aided by multiple benefactors, remains understudied. This gap is addressed by testing two determinants: social-emotional motivations and reciprocal efficiency (the efficiency of reinforcing future relational capital). Combining an interpersonal task with fMRI multivariate neural expressions and representational similarity analysis, it is demonstrated that efficiency recalibrates choices between altruistic and strategic benefactors by shifting the neural balance between distinct soci

SUBMITTER: Liao R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12849932 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature