Moral Consistency is Facilitated by Key Information Representation and Integration in vmPFC
Poster No:
662
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Valley Liu1, Hongwen Song1, Xiaochu Zhang1
Institutions:
1University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
'Practice what you preach', which represents individual behavior that aligns with one's moral principle of judging others, is motivated by individuals for consistent cognition and a positive reputation to facilitate social cooperation (Festinger et al., 1959; O'Connor et al., 2020). Failing to do so is perceived negatively and receives condemnation (Jordan et al., 2017; Effron et al., 2020). Nevertheless, such misalignment is often observed across various social contexts ranging from interpersonal interactions to political debates and international affairs (Lammers et al., 2010; Stone et al., 1997). This phenomenon pertains to the consistency across moral behavior and moral judgment, or moral consistency (Effron et al., 2023). However, the consistency level between moral behavior and moral judgment, and the neural mechanisms of moral consistency, remain unclear. Here, we examined (1) whether individuals exhibit consistency between their moral behavior and moral judgment in the same setting; (2) whether individuals with higher moral consistency consider the moral principles they use to judge others when they are making decisions.
Methods:
We conducted an fMRI experiment including moral behavior (MB) task and moral judgment (MJ) task (Figure 1A), combining participants' behavior, statistical models for behavior data, and brain activity to investigate these questions. In the MB task, participants played the role of 'instructor' who decided whether to cheat an anonymous 'learner' to get potential more profit. In the MJ task, participants were presented with the same option and were requested to judge whether choosing the cheating option was aligned with their moral principles on a 10-point scale.
First, we employed a generalized linear mixed effects model for behavioral data and general linear models for fMRI data to investigate the potential inconsistency of individual sensitivity to profit and dishonesty magnitude between the MB and MJ tasks. Second, we conducted whole brain searchlight MVPA to examine the cross-task neural representation for judge score using a support vector regression (SVR) model. Third, we calculated the voxel-based connectedness for ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) to investigated its role in information integration, which might predict moral consistency.
First, we employed a generalized linear mixed effects model for behavioral data and general linear models for fMRI data to investigate the potential inconsistency of individual sensitivity to profit and dishonesty magnitude between the MB and MJ tasks. Second, we conducted whole brain searchlight MVPA to examine the cross-task neural representation for judge score using a support vector regression (SVR) model. Third, we calculated the voxel-based connectedness for ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) to investigated its role in information integration, which might predict moral consistency.
Results:
A total of 58 participants (mean age = 21.84, s.d. = 1.94; 29 females and 29 males) were included. First, we found that participants exhibited an inconsistent sensitivity to profit and honesty in the MB and MJ tasks, with a higher honesty preference in the MJ task than in the MB task (Figure 1B-C). The fMRI results revealed that profit signals in the right dorsal striatum predicted honesty preference in moral behavior (Figure 1F), whereas dishonesty signals in the left inferior parietal lobule predicted honesty preference in moral judgment (Figure 1I). Second, the MVPA showed that the vmPFC exhibited a higher judge score representation similarity across tasks in participants with higher moral consistency (Figure 2B). And the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was involved in cross-task judge score representation across all participants (Figure 2C). Moreover, during the MB task, the vmPFC exhibited stronger connectedness to the whole brain and other regions responding to profit and dishonesty (Figure 2F-G) in participants with higher moral consistency. The moral consistency was better predicted by a combination of connectedness to rDS-rTPJ and cross-task judge score representation similarity of the vmPFC.
·Experimental tasks and results showing an inconcistency between moral behavior and moral judgment
·Results of cross-task SVR prediction analysis and connectedness analysis
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate an inconsistency in individuals' performance between moral behavior and moral judgment in the same setting, with the vmPFC playing a unique role in moral consistency. Although both individuals with higher and lower moral consistency were aware of their moral principles, individuals with higher moral consistency consider their moral principles and integrate more information when making decisions, and apply this information to their behavior.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Cognition 2
Social Neuroscience Other 1
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Decision Making
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Classification and Predictive Modeling
Multivariate Approaches
Keywords:
Other - Moral behavior; moral judgment; moral consistency; information integration; profit; honesty; trade-off; ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC); cross-task representation
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Abstract Information
By submitting your proposal, you grant permission for the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) to distribute your work in any format, including video, audio print and electronic text through OHBM OnDemand, social media channels, the OHBM website, or other electronic publications and media.
The Open Science Special Interest Group (OSSIG) is introducing a reproducibility challenge for OHBM 2025. This new initiative aims to enhance the reproducibility of scientific results and foster collaborations between labs. Teams will consist of a “source” party and a “reproducing” party, and will be evaluated on the success of their replication, the openness of the source work, and additional deliverables. Click here for more information. Propose your OHBM abstract(s) as source work for future OHBM meetings by selecting one of the following options:
Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Was this research conducted in the United States?
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel? NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
Which processing packages did you use for your study?
Provide references using APA citation style.
Effron, D. A., Markus, H. R., Jackman, L. M., Muramoto, Y., & Muluk, H. (2018). Hypocrisy and culture: Failing to practice what you preach receives harsher interpersonal reactions in independent (vs. interdependent) cultures. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 371–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.12.009
Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 58(2), 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0041593
Jordan, J. J., Sommers, R., Bloom, P., & Rand, D. G. (2017). Why do we hate hypocrites? Evidence for a theory of false signaling. Psychological Science, 28(3), 356–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616685771
Lammers, J., Stapel, D. A., & Galinsky, A. D. (2010). Power increases hypocrisy. Psychological Science, 21(5), 737–744. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610368810
O’Connor, K., Effron, D. A., & Lucas, B. J. (2020). Moral cleansing as hypocrisy: When private acts of charity make you feel better than you deserve. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(3), 540–559. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000195
Stone, J., Wiegand, A. W., Cooper, J., & Aronson, E. (1997). When exemplification fails: Hypocrisy and the motive for self-integrity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(1), 54–65. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.1.54