{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,19]],"date-time":"2026-01-19T05:51:46Z","timestamp":1768801906363,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MIT Press - Journals","issue":"11","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2011,11,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>On the basis of the importance of social connection for survival, humans may have evolved a \u201csociometer\u201d\u2014a mechanism that translates perceptions of rejection or acceptance into state self-esteem. Here, we explored the neural underpinnings of the sociometer by examining whether neural regions responsive to rejection or acceptance were associated with state self-esteem. Participants underwent fMRI while viewing feedback words (\u201cinteresting,\u201d \u201cboring\u201c) ostensibly chosen by another individual (confederate) to describe the participant's previously recorded interview. Participants rated their state self-esteem in response to each feedback word. Results demonstrated that greater activity in rejection-related neural regions (dorsal ACC, anterior insula) and mentalizing regions was associated with lower-state self-esteem. Additionally, participants whose self-esteem decreased from prescan to postscan versus those whose self-esteem did not showed greater medial prefrontal cortical activity, previously associated with self-referential processing, in response to negative feedback. Together, the results inform our understanding of the origin and nature of our feelings about ourselves.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00027","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,3,31]],"date-time":"2011-03-31T13:27:41Z","timestamp":1301578061000},"page":"3448-3455","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":171,"title":["The Neural Sociometer: Brain Mechanisms Underlying State Self-esteem"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Naomi I.","family":"Eisenberger","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of California, Los Angeles"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tristen K.","family":"Inagaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of California, Los Angeles"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Keely A.","family":"Muscatell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of California, Los Angeles"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kate E.","family":"Byrne Haltom","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of California, Los Angeles"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark R.","family":"Leary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Duke University"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,11,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021072901003755800_R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1002\/ejsp.2420150306","article-title":"Thinking about thinking: Casual, evaluative, and finalistic cognitions about social situations.","volume":"15","author":"Abele","year":"1985","journal-title":"European Journal of Social Psychology"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn1884","article-title":"Meeting of minds: The medial frontal cortex and social cognition.","volume":"7","author":"Amodio","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.1037\/1089-2680.5.4.323","article-title":"Bad is stronger than good.","volume":"5","author":"Baumeister","year":"2001","journal-title":"Review of General Psychology"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9314","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.0400-09.2009","article-title":"Somatotopic organization of gentle touch processing in the posterior insular cortex.","volume":"29","author":"Bj\u00f6rnsdotter","year":"2009","journal-title":"Journal of Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.1080\/17470910701391711","article-title":"The face of rejection: Rejection sensitivity moderates dorsal anterior cingulated cortex activity to disapproving facial expressions.","volume":"2","author":"Burklund","year":"2007","journal-title":"Social Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1583","DOI":"10.1162\/0898929042568578","article-title":"Brain activity during episodic retrieval of autobiographical and laboratory events: An fMRI study using a novel photo paradigm.","volume":"16","author":"Cabeza","year":"2004","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"564","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/awl004","article-title":"The precuneus: A review of its functional anatomy and behavioural correlates.","volume":"129","author":"Cavana","year":"2006","journal-title":"Brain"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"931","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797610374741","article-title":"Tylenol reduces social pain: Behavioral and neural evidence.","volume":"21","author":"DeWall","year":"2010","journal-title":"Psychological Science"},{"key":"2021072901003755800_R9","article-title":"Does the pain of rejection depend on attachment style? 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