Cognitive control increases honesty in cheaters but cheating in those who are honest.
| Autor: | Speer SPH; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands speer@rsm.nl., Smidts A; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands., Boksem MAS; Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2020 Aug 11; Vol. 117 (32), pp. 19080-19091. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Aug 03. |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2003480117 |
| Abstrakt: | Every day, we are faced with the conflict between the temptation to cheat for financial gains and maintaining a positive image of ourselves as being a "good person." While it has been proposed that cognitive control is needed to mediate this conflict between reward and our moral self-image, the exact role of cognitive control in (dis)honesty remains elusive. Here we identify this role, by investigating the neural mechanism underlying cheating. We developed a task which allows for inconspicuously measuring spontaneous cheating on a trial-by-trial basis in the MRI scanner. We found that activity in the nucleus accumbens promotes cheating, particularly for individuals who cheat a lot, while a network consisting of posterior cingulate cortex, temporoparietal junction, and medial prefrontal cortex promotes honesty, particularly in individuals who are generally honest. Finally, activity in areas associated with cognitive control (anterior cingulate cortex and inferior frontal gyrus) helped dishonest participants to be honest, whereas it enabled cheating for honest participants. Thus, our results suggest that cognitive control is not needed to be honest or dishonest per se but that it depends on an individual's moral default. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest. (Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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