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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Ho JT, Lenggenhager B, Aglioti SM. Ownership of the affected leg is further reduced following deceptive behaviors in body integrity dysphoria. iScience 2023; 26:107551. [PMID: 37664627 PMCID: PMC10469995 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Although predicted by the notion of embodied morality, it remains unknown whether a reduced sense of body ownership (SoO) is associated with increased or decreased dishonesty. To clarify this issue, we tested patients with body integrity dysphoria (BID), a clinical condition characterized by chronic reductions of SoO toward one leg that patients persistently desire to have amputated. Participants with BID played a card game in which they could voluntarily tell the truth or cheat an opponent, and thus either steal or give them money. To assess whether SoO toward the effector limb influences (im)moral decisions, responses were communicated with the affected or the unaffected leg. We found that a higher number of self-gain lies was followed by further reductions of SoO toward the affected leg. Our result supports the idea that reductions of SoO may follow immoral behaviors to distance from unwanted characteristics of the self, like one's own dishonesty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome (RM) 00185, Italy
| | - Jasmine T. Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bigna Lenggenhager
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
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Dupont L, Santangelo V, Azevedo RT, Panasiti MS, Aglioti SM. Reputation risk during dishonest social decision-making modulates anterior insular and cingulate cortex activity and connectivity. Commun Biol 2023; 6:475. [PMID: 37120439 PMCID: PMC10148859 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04827-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023] Open
Abstract
To explore the neural underpinnings of (dis)honest decision making under quasi-ecological conditions, we used an fMRI adapted version of a card game in which deceptive or truthful decisions are made to an opponent, with or without the risk of getting caught by them. Dishonest decisions were associated to increased activity in a cortico-subcortical circuit including the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (AI), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and right caudate. Crucially, deceptive immoral decisions under reputation risk enhanced activity of - and functional connectivity between - the bilateral ACC and left AI, suggesting the need for heightened emotional processing and cognitive control when making immoral decisions under reputation risk. Tellingly, more manipulative individuals required less involvement of the ACC during risky self-gain lies but more involvement during other-gain truths, pointing to the need of cognitive control only when going against one's own moral code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lennie Dupont
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Valerio Santangelo
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences & Education, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Ruben T Azevedo
- Keynes College, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy.
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
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Feruglio S, Panasiti MS, Crescentini C, Aglioti SM, Ponsi G. The impact of mindfulness meditation on social and moral behavior: Does mindfulness enhance other-oriented motivation or decrease monetary reward salience? Front Integr Neurosci 2022; 16:963422. [PMID: 36118116 PMCID: PMC9478338 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2022.963422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
This perspective article provides an overview of the impact of mindfulness meditation (MM) on social and moral behavior. In mindfulness research, prosocial behavior has been operationalized as helping behavior, altruistic redistribution of funds, reparative behavior, or monetary donation. Studies concerning moral behavior are still scarce. Despite inconsistent evidence, several studies found a beneficial effect of mindfulness on prosocial outcomes (i.e., a higher propensity to spend or give away money for the sake of other individuals). However, since the employed tasks were reward-based, participants’ decisions also directly affected their own payoff by reducing it. Crucially, MM also affects self-control circuitry and reduces reward-seeking behaviors and reward salience by making rewards less tempting. We have discussed evidence suggesting how challenging it may be to dissociate the specific weight of enhanced other-oriented motivation from one of the decreased monetary reward salience in explaining meditators’ behavior. Future higher-quality studies are needed to address this open issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanna Feruglio
- Italian Institute of Technology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education, and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristiano Crescentini
- Department of Languages, Literatures, Communication, Education, and Society, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
- Institute of Mechanical Intelligence, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Italian Institute of Technology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Giorgia Ponsi
- Italian Institute of Technology, Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- *Correspondence: Giorgia Ponsi,
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Scattolin M, Panasiti MS, Villa R, Aglioti SM. Reduced ownership over a virtual body modulates dishonesty. iScience 2022; 25:104320. [PMID: 35602961 PMCID: PMC9118670 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 10/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Although studies suggest that even higher-order functions can be embodied, whether body awareness may bias moral decisions toward (dis)honesty remains underinvestigated. Here, we tested if the Sense of body Ownership (SoO) and the magnitude of monetary rewards influence the tendency to act immorally. Through a virtual body, participants played a card game in which they could lie to others to steal high or low amounts of money. To manipulate SoO, the virtual body was seen and controlled from a first-person perspective, with hands attached or detached, or from a third-person perspective. In third-person perspective, SoO was significantly reduced and more egoistic lies were produced in high reward conditions. Thus, SoO reduction and high monetary reward facilitate dishonest behavior, likely by separating the self from the dishonest actions performed through the disowned body. Because most future interactions will likely occur in a digital metaverse, our results may have crucial societal impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Scattolin
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Maria Serena Panasiti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy.,Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome (RM) 00185, Italy
| | - Riccardo Villa
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLNS@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome (RM) 00161, Italy.,Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome (RM) 00179, Italy
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Interoceptive influences on the production of self-serving lies in reputation risk conditions. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 177:34-42. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Cognitive strategies for managing cheating: The roles of cognitive abilities in managing moral shortcuts. Psychon Bull Rev 2021; 28:1579-1591. [PMID: 34013482 PMCID: PMC8500867 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-01936-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Cheating and immorality are highly researched phenomena, likely due to their great impact. However, little research has examined the real-time cognitive mechanisms that are involved in cheating and conflict management. Much of the cheating research to date concentrates on binary cheating; however, in more prevalent real-world scenarios, people often engage in more ambiguous self-serving mistakes. To execute such self-serving decisions, one may make use of conflict-management strategies to help balance an internal struggle between gain and self-concept. We propose that to enact such strategies one must employ sufficient cognitive resources. To test this, we employed a simple effortful control task that allows for comparisons of gain and no-gain errors, isolating self-serving mistakes while recording gaze and response-time measures. Findings revealed that individuals can make use of conflict management strategies that mimicked errors made inadvertently. Two strategies included gaze avert and quick response times during gain blocks, whereby participants simulated out-of-control-like behaviors while engaging in self-serving mistakes, plausibly as a method of self-justification. Strategy use was dependent upon individuals' cognitive abilities. Participants reporting high inhibitory control abilities were able to use gaze aversion to engage in self-serving mistakes, while those reporting high attention resources were able to employ faster response times when making more profitable errors. Taken together, this paper contributes to (1) the debate on whether honesty/dishonesty is the dominant response, (2) the debate on self-control and inhibition on cheating, and (3) the understudied area of cognitive justifications to maintain a positive self-concept.
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Boukarras S, Era V, Aglioti SM, Candidi M. Competence-based social status and implicit preference modulate the ability to coordinate during a joint grasping task. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5321. [PMID: 33674640 PMCID: PMC7935999 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84280-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies indicate that social status influences people's social perceptions. Less information is available about whether induced social status influences dyadic coordination during motor interactions. To explore this issue, we designed a study in which two confederates obtained high or low competence-based status by playing a game together with the participant, while the participant always occupied the middle position of the hierarchy. Following this status-inducing phase, participants were engaged in a joint grasping task with the high- and low-status confederates in different sessions while behavioural (i.e., interpersonal asynchrony and movement start time) indexes were measured. Participants' performance in the task (i.e., level of interpersonal asynchrony) when interacting with the low-status partner was modulated by their preference for him. The lower participants' preference for a low- relative to a high-status confederate, the worse participants' performance when interacting with the low-status confederate. Our results show that participants' performance during motor interactions changes according to the social status of the interaction partner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
| | - Vanessa Era
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CNLS@Sapienza Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Candidi
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.
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