Choosing the lesser evil: Electrophysiological correlates of moral judgment

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  • Andrea Manfrinati
    University of Padova
  • Michela Sarlo
    University of Padova
  • Lorella Lotto
    University of Padova
  • Daniela Palomba
    University of Padova
  • Germano Gallicchio
    University of Padova
  • Rino Rumiati
    University of Padova
Recent fMRI evidence suggests that emotional activation competes with cognitive con-trol in the resolution of moral dilemmas. However, little is known on the temporaldynamics of the emotional processes involved in moral cognition. The present study wasaimed at investigating the time course of neural processes associated with decision-making in moral judgment, by employing dilemmas in which subjects were required todecide between options A (letting a specific number of people die) and B (killing oneperson to save a specific number of people). Thirty-seven participants were presentedwith 60 dilemmas that orthogonally varied intentionality of the action (killing as a‘‘means’’ vs. ‘‘side-effect’’) and personal involvement (killing to save ‘‘oneself and oth-ers’’ vs. ‘‘others’’). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to a slide displayingthe letters ‘‘A’’ and ‘‘B’’, as subjects were deciding. Response choices and response timeswere also recorded. Ratings of valence and arousal experienced during decision-makingwere collected after each dilemma. As compared with ‘‘side-effect dilemmas’’, ‘‘meansdilemmas’’ prompted a lower number of B choices and longer response times. Further-more, they were rated as more unpleasant and arousing. ERP analysis revealed a sig-nificantly larger early P3 component in the frontal area when subjects were deciding on‘‘means’’ than on ‘‘side-effect dilemmas’’. This might reflect emotion-related conflictdetection and conflict resolution processes during the early stages of decision-making.

Keywords

  • moral judgment, event-related potentials, emotion
Original languageEnglish
PagesS38
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2010
Externally publishedYes
EventAnnual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research - Portland, United States
Duration: 29 Sept 20103 Oct 2010
Conference number: 50
https://sprweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2010program-1.pdf

Conference

ConferenceAnnual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research
Abbreviated titleSPR 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPortland
Period29/09/103/10/10
Internet address

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