The social neuroscience of reputation

Human behavior is strongly influenced by the presence of others. Obtaining a good reputation or avoiding a bad one is a powerful incentive for a plethora of human actions. Theoretical considerations suggest that reputation may be a key mediator of aspects of altruistic behavior that are uniquely human. Despite its considerable influence on human social behavior and the growing interest in social neuroscience, investigations of the neural basis of reputation-based decision-making are still in their infancy. Here, I argue that reputation is an important aspect of human social cognition and present some of the candidate neural mechanisms.

► Human behaviors are affected by a concern for reputation (what others think of us).
► Reputation is also known to be a key concept explaining human altruism.
► I present candidate neural mechanisms underlying reputation based decision-making.