The secret hidden from philosophers and psychologists since the creation of the world is finally revealed: why the overwhelming majority of people prefer to be honest?
Rejecting the metaphysical reasons for this behavior, researchers at University College London (UCL) found that on the physical level, the brain finds much more satisfaction in decency than in deception.
A study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience indicates that, at least on a psychological level, the old adage that "a crime is not justifiable" is absolutely true.
“When we make a decision, a portion of the brain regions calculates how valuable it is and is appropriate for our future capabilities,” said Dr. Molly Crockett, who led the study. - Inequitable income generates weaker responses in this network, which may explain why most people would rather not profit from harming others. Our results show that money by itself is not that attractive."
The research team monitored the volunteers' brains using MRI scans to determine how much they were able to anonymously hurt themselves or strangers in exchange for money. The experiment involved 28 pairs of participants, the pairs were given the opportunity to inflict small electric shocks on each other. At the same time, they were given the opportunity to choose the amount of money that was associated with the shock either for themselves or for their partner.
In the course of the study, scientists noticed that when making a decision, an area of the brain called the striatum was activated. MRI imaging showed that this part of the brain was much more active when participants received money by hurting themselves than others, believing that they instinctively considered the decision more valuable.
The scans also showed that the lateral prefrontal cortex, involved in making moral judgments, was most active on assignments when hurting others yielded minimal benefits.
Researchers believe that generally accepted moral norms are triggered by neurological signaling, destroying values that we might attribute to unrighteous income.
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Curiously, previous UCL research suggested that qualities such as generosity and altruism are also responsible for a specific area of the brain that works better in some people than in others.