Why most of us lean towards doing the ‘right thing’

IT IS a mystery that has perplexed philosophers for centuries: why do people usually choose to do the right thing?

Now, using an experiment involving brain scans and electric shocks, scientists claim to have found the answer.

Researchers at University College London discovered that, at a physical level, the brain finds decency far more satisfying than deception.

Their experiment involved 28 couples who were paired off anonymously and given the ability to give each other small electric shocks. They were given the option of receiving sums of money in return for a shock – either for themselves or for their partner. The research team scanned volunteers’ brains as they made their decision and noticed that a region of the brain called the striatum, key to the understanding of value, was activated.

MRI imaging found that this brain network was far more active when the participants gained money, while inflicting pain on themselves than on another, suggesting they found it instinctively more worthwhile.

“When we make decisions, a network of brain regions calculates how valuable our options are,” Dr Molly Crockett, who led the research said.

“Ill-gotten gains evoke weaker responses in this network, which may explain why most people would rather not profit from harming others.

“Our findings suggest the brain internalises the moral judgments of others, simulating how much others might blame us for potential wrongdoing, even when we know our actions are anonymous.”

In an allied study, participants were asked to make moral judgments about decisions to harm others for profit. It showed that when people refused to profit from harming others, this region was communicating with the striatum.

The researchers believe this shows that moral rules are visible in the form of neurological signalling, and that these disrupt the value we might otherwise place on ill-gotten gains. — The Daily Telegraph