Manipulation checks
First, we tested whether participants perceived themselves to be successful in distinguishing between conditions. Specifically, in the post-scan task, participants rated each message they composed on the likelihood that the message would achieve each of the three goals (‘Help Somebody’, ‘Describe Yourself’ and ‘Spread Information’; only one of which was assigned through instructions for the current trial). As expected (see Hypothesis 1.1 in Manipulation check results
Second, in an exploratory analysis, we examined condition effects on the language participants used while sharing articles in the post-scan task using LIWC 2007 dictionary (