Heart rate variability is associated with social value orientation in males but not females

• Published in: Scientific reports 2018-05, Vol.8 (1), p.7336-9, Article 7336
• Main Authors: Lischke, Alexander, Mau-Moeller, Anett, Jacksteit, Robert, Pahnke, Rike, Hamm, Alfons O., Weippert, Matthias
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/443/592; 631/477; Cognition; Heart rate; Humanities and Social Sciences; Males; multidisciplinary; Phylogeny; Product choice; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Social behavior; Social interactions
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-25739-4

Phylogenetic and neurobiological theories suggest that inter-individual differences in high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) are associated with inter-individual differences in social behavior and social cognition. To test these theories, we investigated whether individuals with high and low HF-HRV would show different preferences for cooperative behavior in social contexts. We recorded resting state HF-HRV in 84 healthy individuals before they completed the Social Value Orientation task, a well-established measure of cooperative preferences. HF-HRV was derived from short-term (300 s) and ultra-short-term (60 s, 120 s) recordings of participants’ heart rate to determine the robustness of possible findings. Irrespective of recording length, we found a sex-dependent association between inter-individual differences in HF-HRV and inter-individual differences in social value orientation: The preference for cooperation was more pronounced among individuals with high as compared low HF-HRV, albeit only in male and not in female participants. These findings suggest that males with high HF-HRV are more inclined to engage in cooperative behavior than males with low HF-HRV.