Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making
In moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding—specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e., somatic marker production) underlies lower rates of utilitarian responding during mor...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-05-01
|
| Series: | Brain Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/5/303 |
| _version_ | 1797567869630808064 |
|---|---|
| author | Shawn E. Fagan Liat Kofler Sarah Riccio Yu Gao |
| author_facet | Shawn E. Fagan Liat Kofler Sarah Riccio Yu Gao |
| author_sort | Shawn E. Fagan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding—specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e., somatic marker production) underlies lower rates of utilitarian responding during moral dilemmas. Though deficient somatic marker production is characteristic of psychopathy, how this deficit affects the psychopathy–utilitarian connection remains unknown. We assessed psychopathic traits in undergraduates, as well as behavioral performance and skin conductance level reactivity (SCL-R; a measure of somatic marker production) during a moral dilemma task. High psychopathic traits and low SCL-R were associated with increased utilitarian decisions in dilemmas involving direct personal harm. Psychopathic traits were unrelated to SCL-R, nor did SCL-R mediate the relationship between psychopathy and utilitarianism. The present study did not find evidence that somatic marker production explains the connection between utilitarianism and psychopathy in a college population. Further research is necessary to identify the neural mechanisms relating psychopathy and moral decision-making in nonclinical samples. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:48:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-48bc20bf639d4c22b85d903f0b4a4b1e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:48:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-48bc20bf639d4c22b85d903f0b4a4b1e2023-11-20T00:37:23ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252020-05-0110530310.3390/brainsci10050303Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision MakingShawn E. Fagan0Liat Kofler1Sarah Riccio2Yu Gao3Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USAThe Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USAIllinois School of Professional Psychology (ISPP) at National Louis University, Chicago, IL 60603, USAThe Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USAIn moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding—specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e., somatic marker production) underlies lower rates of utilitarian responding during moral dilemmas. Though deficient somatic marker production is characteristic of psychopathy, how this deficit affects the psychopathy–utilitarian connection remains unknown. We assessed psychopathic traits in undergraduates, as well as behavioral performance and skin conductance level reactivity (SCL-R; a measure of somatic marker production) during a moral dilemma task. High psychopathic traits and low SCL-R were associated with increased utilitarian decisions in dilemmas involving direct personal harm. Psychopathic traits were unrelated to SCL-R, nor did SCL-R mediate the relationship between psychopathy and utilitarianism. The present study did not find evidence that somatic marker production explains the connection between utilitarianism and psychopathy in a college population. Further research is necessary to identify the neural mechanisms relating psychopathy and moral decision-making in nonclinical samples.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/5/303moral decision-makingutilitarianismsomatic marker hypothesispsychopathyharm aversion |
| spellingShingle | Shawn E. Fagan Liat Kofler Sarah Riccio Yu Gao Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making Brain Sciences moral decision-making utilitarianism somatic marker hypothesis psychopathy harm aversion |
| title | Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making |
| title_full | Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making |
| title_fullStr | Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making |
| title_short | Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making |
| title_sort | somatic marker production deficits do not explain the relationship between psychopathic traits and utilitarian moral decision making |
| topic | moral decision-making utilitarianism somatic marker hypothesis psychopathy harm aversion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/5/303 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shawnefagan somaticmarkerproductiondeficitsdonotexplaintherelationshipbetweenpsychopathictraitsandutilitarianmoraldecisionmaking AT liatkofler somaticmarkerproductiondeficitsdonotexplaintherelationshipbetweenpsychopathictraitsandutilitarianmoraldecisionmaking AT sarahriccio somaticmarkerproductiondeficitsdonotexplaintherelationshipbetweenpsychopathictraitsandutilitarianmoraldecisionmaking AT yugao somaticmarkerproductiondeficitsdonotexplaintherelationshipbetweenpsychopathictraitsandutilitarianmoraldecisionmaking |