Self-esteem gates the coupling between cultural estrangement and the default mode network

Increasing multiculturalism and globalization have increased the discrepancies between socially-shared norms and personal values. This study examined whether the association between Cultural Estrangement (CE) and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of the default mode network (DMN) is moderated by self-esteem (SE). In total, 170 healthy Japanese adults (20–70 years) were recruited, 70 of whom completed the CE Inventory (CEI) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and underwent 7-Tesla resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). DMN seeds were extracted from resting samples ( n = 100) using group-level independent component analysis with 20, 25, and 30 components, followed by CEI × RSES interaction on resting-state FC (rsFC). Across all three DMN masks, a single cluster in right lateral parietal cortex (within the DMN, bordering the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and superior lateral occipital cortex (LOC)) showed a significant interaction after cluster-level false discovery rate correction ( p < .05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that when the RSES was high, CEI correlated positively with DMN–right lateral parietal rsFC, whereas at low RSES, the correlation was negative; age, sex, CEI, and RSES alone were not significant. These findings are consistent with self-esteem moderating the resting-state association between cultural estrangement and DMN–right lateral parietal connectivity: at higher SE the CE–connectivity association is positive (incorporation pattern), at lower SE the association is negative (segregation pattern).