Carrie Masten
Assistant Professor
My research interests are generally focused on our fundamental need to belong to social groups and the distress that results when we are rejected from these groups. I explore neural and affective processes underlying both interpersonal rejection (e.g. rejection by peers), as well as intergroup rejection (e.g. racial discrimination). I also examine the empathic processes engaged when we witness others experiencing these types of rejection experiences. Given my interest in development, I examine these social processes in adult, adolescent, and child populations; however, I am particularly interested in adolescence because of the heightened salience of peer rejection at this age.
Currently, I am investigating peer rejection in adolescence using a combination of neuroimaging and behavioral techniques that allow me to examine the experience and regulation of emotions resulting from negative interactions with peers, at the moment they are happening. Specifically, I use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in conjunction with questionnaires, lab observations, and other behavioral measures to examine: (a) the neural mechanisms that underlie firsthand experiences with peer rejection, and how these experiences relate to mental health, (b) the neural correlates and behavioral consequences of the empathy individuals feel when they see others being socially rejected, and (c) how identifying with a specific group (i.e., a particular race) changes individuals’ responses to social rejection and their empathy for these experiences.
Representative Publications
Masten, C.L., Morelli, S.A., & Eisenberger, N.I. (in press). An fMRI investigation of empathy for ‘social pain’ and subsequent prosocial behavior. NeuroImage.
Masten, C.L., Eisenberger, N.I., Borofsky, L.A., McNealy, K., Pfeifer, J.H., & Dapretto, M. (in press). Subgenual anterior cingulate responses to peer rejection: A neural marker of adolescents’ risk for depression. Development and Psychopathology.
Pfeifer, J.H., Masten, C.L., Moore, W.E., Oswald, T.M., Iacoboni, M., Mazziotta, J.C., & Dapretto, M. (in press). Entering adolescence: Resistance to peer influence, risky behavior, and neural changes in emotion reactivity. Neuron.
DeWall, C.N., Masten, C.L., Powell, C., Combs, D., Schurtz, D.R., & Eisenberger, N.I. (in press). Does the pain of rejection depend on attachment style? An fMRI study. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
Brown, C.S., Alabi, B., Huynh, V., & Masten, C.L. (in press). Ethnicity and gender in late childhood and early adolescence: Group identity and awareness of bias. Developmental Psychology.
Masten, C.L., Telzer, E.H., Fuligni, A.J., Lieberman, M.D., Eisenberger, N.I. (2010). Time spent with friends in adolescence relates to less neural sensitivity to later peer rejection. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq098.
Masten, C.L., Telzer, E.H., & Eisenberger, N.I. (2010). An fMRI investigation of attributing negative social treatment to racial discrimination. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. doi:10.1162/jocn.2010.21520.
Masten, C.L., Eisenberger, N.I., Pfeifer, J., & Dapretto, M. (2010). Witnessing peer rejection during adolescence: Neural correlates of empathy for experiences of social exclusion. Social Neuroscience, 5, 496-507.
Telzer, E.H., Masten, C.L., Berkman, E.T., Lieberman, M.D., & Fuligni, A.J. (2010). Gaining while giving: A cultural neuroscience study of the rewards of family assistance. Social Neuroscience, 5, 508-518.
DeWall, C.N., MacDonald, G., Webster, G.D., Masten, C.L., Baumeister, R.F., Powell, C., Combs, D., Schurtz, D.R., Stillman, T.F., Tice, D.M., & Eisenberger, N.I. (2010). Acetaminophen reduces social pain: Behavioral and neural evidence. Psychological Science, 21, 931-937.
Masten, C.L., Gillen-O’Neel, C., & Brown, C.S. (2010). Children’s intergroup empathic processing: The roles of novel ingroup identification, situational distress, and social anxiety. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 106, 115-128.
Fuligni, A.J., & Masten, C.L. (2010). Daily family interactions among young adults from Latin American, East Asian, Filipino, and European backgrounds. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34, 491-499.
Masten, C.L., Eisenberger, N.I., Borofsky, L.A., Pfeifer, J.H., McNealy, K., Mazziotta, J. & Dapretto, M. (2009). Neural correlates of social exclusion during adolescence: Understanding the distress of peer rejection. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience,
4, 143-157.
Masten, C.L., & Eisenberger, N.I. (2009). Exploring the experience of social rejection in adults and adolescents: A social cognitive neuroscience perspective. In M. Harris (Ed.) Bullying, rejection, and peer victimization: A social cognitive neuroscience perspective
(pp.53-78). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Pfeifer, J.H., Masten, C.L., Borofsky, L.A., Dapretto, M., Fuligni, A.J., & Lieberman, M.D. (2009). Neural correlates of direct and reflected self-appraisals in adolescents and adults: When social perspective-taking informs self-perception. Child Development, 80, 1016-1038.
Masten, C.L., Juvonen, J., & Spatzier, A. (2009). Relative importance of parents and peers: Differences in academic and social behaviors at three grade levels spanning late childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 773-799.
Vasa, R.A., Pine, D.S., Masten, C.L., Vythilingam, M., Collin, C., Charney, D.S., Neumeister, A., Mogg, K., Bradley, B.P., Bruck, M., Monk, C.S. (2009). Effects of yohimbine and hydrocortisone on panic symptoms and attention to threat cues. Psychopharmacology,
204, 445-455.
Masten, C.L., Guyer, A.E., Hodgdon, H.B., McClure, E.B., Charney, D.S., Ernst, M., Kaufman, J., Pine, D.S., & Monk, C.S. (2008). Recognition of facial emotions among maltreated children with high rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Child Abuse and Neglect, 32, 139-153.
Monk, C.S., Klein, R.G., Telzer, E.H., Schroth, E.A., Mannuzza S., Moulton, J.L. III, Guardino, M., Masten, C.L., McClure, E.B., Fromm, S., Blair, R.J.R., Pine, D.S., & Ernst, M. (2008). Amygdala and nucleus accumbens activation to emotional facial expressions in adolescents at risk for major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 90-98.
Guyer, A.E., Kaufman, J., Hodgdon, H.B., Masten, C.L., Jazbec S., Pine D. S., & Ernst, M. (2006). Behavioral alterations in reward system function: The role of childhood maltreatment and psychopathology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45, 1059-1067.