How serotonin shapes moral judgment and behavior

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Abstract

Neuroscientists are now discovering how hormones and brain chemicals shape social behavior, opening potential avenues for pharmacological manipulation of ethical values. Here, we review recent studies showing how altering brain chemistry can alter moral judgment and behavior, focusing in particular on the neuromodulator serotonin and its role in shaping values related to harm and fairness. We synthesize previous findings and consider the potential mechanisms through which serotonin could increase the aversion to harming others. We present a process model whereby serotonin influences social behavior by shifting social preferences in the positive direction, enhancing the value people place on others’ outcomes. This model may explain previous findings relating serotonin function to prosocial behavior, and makes new predictions regarding how serotonin may influence the neural computation of value in social contexts.

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Most cited references 113

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The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.

Jonathan Haidt (2001)

Research on moral judgment has been dominated by rationalist models, in which moral judgment is thought to be caused by moral reasoning. The author gives 4 reasons for considering the hypothesis that moral reasoning does not cause moral judgment; rather, moral reasoning is usually a post hoc construction, generated after a judgment has been reached. The social intuitionist model is presented as an alternative to rationalist models. The model is a social model in that it deemphasizes the private reasoning done by individuals and emphasizes instead the importance of social and cultural influences. The model is an intuitionist model in that it states that moral judgment is generally the result of quick, automatic evaluations (intuitions). The model is more consistent that rationalist models with recent findings in social, cultural, evolutionary, and biological psychology, as well as in anthropology and primatology.

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A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation

E. Fehr, K. Schmidt (1999)

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Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others.

Tania Singer, Ben Seymour, John P O'Doherty … (2006)

The neural processes underlying empathy are a subject of intense interest within the social neurosciences. However, very little is known about how brain empathic responses are modulated by the affective link between individuals. We show here that empathic responses are modulated by learned preferences, a result consistent with economic models of social preferences. We engaged male and female volunteers in an economic game, in which two confederates played fairly or unfairly, and then measured brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while these same volunteers observed the confederates receiving pain. Both sexes exhibited empathy-related activation in pain-related brain areas (fronto-insular and anterior cingulate cortices) towards fair players. However, these empathy-related responses were significantly reduced in males when observing an unfair person receiving pain. This effect was accompanied by increased activation in reward-related areas, correlated with an expressed desire for revenge. We conclude that in men (at least) empathic responses are shaped by valuation of other people's social behaviour, such that they empathize with fair opponents while favouring the physical punishment of unfair opponents, a finding that echoes recent evidence for altruistic punishment.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Ann N Y Acad Sci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci

Journal ID (publisher-id): nyas

Title: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

ISSN (Print): 0077-8923

ISSN (Electronic): 1749-6632

Publication date (Print): September 2013

Publication date (Electronic): 24 September 2013

Volume: 1299

Issue: 1

Pages: 42-51

Affiliations

[1 ]Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London London, United Kingdom

[2 ]Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zürich Zürich, Switzerland

Author notes

Address for correspondence: Molly J. Crockett, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom. mollycrockett@ 123456gmail.com

Article

DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12229

PMC ID: 3817523

PubMed ID: 25627116

SO-VID: 8d18672a-91b0-477b-bdb0-dbffeb089b31

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Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.

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How serotonin shapes moral judgment and behavior

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Serotonin and BEYOND

Most cited references 113

The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.

A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation

Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others.

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