A neural model of valuation and information virality
Abstract
Why do humans share information with others? Large-scale sharing is one of the most prominent social phenomena of the 21st century, with roots in the oldest forms of communication. We argue that expectations of self-related and social consequences of sharing are integrated into a domain-general value signal, representing the value of information sharing, which translates into population-level virality. We analyzed brain responses toNew York Timesarticles in two separate groups of people to predict objectively logged sharing of those same articles around the world (virality). Converging evidence from the two studies supports a unifying, parsimonious neurocognitive framework of mechanisms underlying health news virality; these results may help advance theory, improve predictive models, and inform new approaches to effective intervention.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 27, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1615259114
Entities
People
- Christin Scholz
- Elisa C. Baek
- Emily B Falk
- Hyun Suk Kim
- Joseph N. Cappella
- Matthew Brook O’donnell
Organizations
- National Institutes of Health
- University of Pennsylvania