International research center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
AJOB Neurosci. 2024 Jul-Sep;15(3):191-205. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2024.2306270. Epub 2024 Jan 31.
Moral decision-making consists of a complex process requiring individuals to evaluate potential consequences of personal and social decisions, including applied organizational contexts.
This research aims to investigate the behavioral (offer responses and reaction times, RTs) and electrophysiological (EEG) correlates underlying moral decision-making during three different choice conditions (professional fit, company fit, and social fit) and offers (fair, unfair, and neutral).
An increase of delta and theta frontal activity (related to emotional behavior and processes) and beta frontal and central activity (linked to cognitive and attentional processes) was found. A left beta, delta, and theta frontal activity was observed for fair offers in professional fit conditions, while increased right frontal delta and theta activity was found in response to unfair offers in company fit conditions. Also, an increase of left delta and theta parietal activity for unfair offers in social fit condition was detected. Finally, higher accepted responses were found for fair and neutral offers in professional and social fit conditions, with increased RTs for unfair offers suggesting decisions' cognitive load and complexity.
By revealing a greater involvement of left and right frontal areas in decision-making processes based on choices and offers, personal interest evaluations and emotional values, and of parietal areas in more prosocial and altruistic moral behavior, current findings provide information about the neural and behavioral correlates underlying company moral behavior.
道德决策由一个复杂的过程组成，需要个人评估个人和社会决策的潜在后果，包括应用组织背景。
本研究旨在调查三种不同选择条件（职业契合、公司契合和社会契合）和三种不同选择条件（公平、不公平和中性）下道德决策的行为（报价反应和反应时间 RT）和脑电图（EEG）相关性。
发现额叶的 delta 和 theta 活动增加（与情绪行为和过程有关），额叶和中央的 beta 活动增加（与认知和注意力过程有关）。在职业契合条件下，公平报价时观察到左 beta、delta 和 theta 额叶活动增加，而在公司契合条件下，不公平报价时观察到右额叶 delta 和 theta 活动增加。此外，在社会契合条件下，不公平报价时左顶叶 delta 和 theta 活动增加。最后，在职业和社会契合条件下，公平和中性报价的接受反应更高，不公平报价的 RT 增加表明决策的认知负荷和复杂性。
通过揭示基于选择和报价的决策过程、个人兴趣评估和情感价值中左右额叶区域的更大参与，以及更具亲社会和利他道德行为中顶叶区域的更大参与，当前研究结果提供了有关公司道德行为的神经和行为相关性的信息。
