Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity
Although the criminal justice system is designed around the idea that individuals are invariant in their responses to punishment, research indicates that individuals exhibit a tremendous amount of variability in their punishment sensitivity. This raises the question of why; what are the individual-...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-06-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01263/full |
| _version_ | 1818985612414287872 |
|---|---|
| author | Jeffrey Gassen Summer Mengelkoch Hannah K. Bradshaw Sarah E. Hill |
| author_facet | Jeffrey Gassen Summer Mengelkoch Hannah K. Bradshaw Sarah E. Hill |
| author_sort | Jeffrey Gassen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although the criminal justice system is designed around the idea that individuals are invariant in their responses to punishment, research indicates that individuals exhibit a tremendous amount of variability in their punishment sensitivity. This raises the question of why; what are the individual- and situation-level variables that impact a person’s sensitivity to punishment? In the current research, we synthesize theory and research on inflammation, learning, and evolutionary biology to examine the relationship between inflammatory activity and sensitivity to punishment. These theories combine to predict that inflammatory activity – which is metabolically costly and reflects a context in which the net payoff associated with future oriented behaviors is diminished – will decrease sensitivity to punishment, but not rewards. Consistent with this hypothesis, Study 1 found that in U.S. states with a higher infectious disease burden (a proxy for average levels of inflammatory activity) exhibit harsher sentencing in their criminal justice systems. Studies 2 and 3 experimentally manipulated variables known to impact bodily inflammatory activity and measured subsequent punishment and reward sensitivity using a probabilistic selection task. Results revealed that (a) increasing inflammation (i.e., completing the study in a dirty vs. clean room) diminished punishment sensitivity (Study 2), whereby (b) administering a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, suppressing inflammatory activity, enhanced it. No such changes were found for reward sensitivity. Together, these results provide evidence of a link between the activities of the immune system and punishment sensitivity, which may have implications for criminal justice outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:37:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-594ebc8a9e9d4188ab24797b8e261145 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:37:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-594ebc8a9e9d4188ab24797b8e2611452022-12-21T19:29:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-06-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.01263513318Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment SensitivityJeffrey GassenSummer MengelkochHannah K. BradshawSarah E. HillAlthough the criminal justice system is designed around the idea that individuals are invariant in their responses to punishment, research indicates that individuals exhibit a tremendous amount of variability in their punishment sensitivity. This raises the question of why; what are the individual- and situation-level variables that impact a person’s sensitivity to punishment? In the current research, we synthesize theory and research on inflammation, learning, and evolutionary biology to examine the relationship between inflammatory activity and sensitivity to punishment. These theories combine to predict that inflammatory activity – which is metabolically costly and reflects a context in which the net payoff associated with future oriented behaviors is diminished – will decrease sensitivity to punishment, but not rewards. Consistent with this hypothesis, Study 1 found that in U.S. states with a higher infectious disease burden (a proxy for average levels of inflammatory activity) exhibit harsher sentencing in their criminal justice systems. Studies 2 and 3 experimentally manipulated variables known to impact bodily inflammatory activity and measured subsequent punishment and reward sensitivity using a probabilistic selection task. Results revealed that (a) increasing inflammation (i.e., completing the study in a dirty vs. clean room) diminished punishment sensitivity (Study 2), whereby (b) administering a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, suppressing inflammatory activity, enhanced it. No such changes were found for reward sensitivity. Together, these results provide evidence of a link between the activities of the immune system and punishment sensitivity, which may have implications for criminal justice outcomes.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01263/fullpunishment sensitivityinflammationcytokinesreward sensitivityrisk sensitive foragingcriminal justice |
| spellingShingle | Jeffrey Gassen Summer Mengelkoch Hannah K. Bradshaw Sarah E. Hill Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity Frontiers in Psychology punishment sensitivity inflammation cytokines reward sensitivity risk sensitive foraging criminal justice |
| title | Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity |
| title_full | Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity |
| title_fullStr | Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity |
| title_short | Does the Punishment Fit the Crime (and Immune System)? A Potential Role for the Immune System in Regulating Punishment Sensitivity |
| title_sort | does the punishment fit the crime and immune system a potential role for the immune system in regulating punishment sensitivity |
| topic | punishment sensitivity inflammation cytokines reward sensitivity risk sensitive foraging criminal justice |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01263/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeffreygassen doesthepunishmentfitthecrimeandimmunesystemapotentialrolefortheimmunesysteminregulatingpunishmentsensitivity AT summermengelkoch doesthepunishmentfitthecrimeandimmunesystemapotentialrolefortheimmunesysteminregulatingpunishmentsensitivity AT hannahkbradshaw doesthepunishmentfitthecrimeandimmunesystemapotentialrolefortheimmunesysteminregulatingpunishmentsensitivity AT sarahehill doesthepunishmentfitthecrimeandimmunesystemapotentialrolefortheimmunesysteminregulatingpunishmentsensitivity |