Pointing fingers at others: The neural correlates of actor-observer asymmetry in blame attribution

Chen, Chenyi; Martínez, Róger Marcelo; Chen, Yijhen; Cheng, Yawei

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107281

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Indeed, it has been found that the asymmetry of moral judgment between observer and actor. The observer relies more on absolute moral rules to evaluate inappropriate behaviors (Chen et al, 2020). Still, how the membership of participants influences social evaluations needs to be addressed further.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teenagers' but not young adults' beliefs about intrinsic interpersonal obligations for group members

Gao

Hua³

et al. 2023

PsyCh Journal

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Previous research has indicated that children perceive social category members as having intrinsic obligations toward each other, which shape their expectations for social interactions. However, it is unclear whether teenagers (aged 13 to 15) and young adults (aged 19 to 21) continue to hold such beliefs, given their increased experience with group dynamics and external social rules. To explore this question, three experiments were conducted with a total of 360 participants (N = 180 for each age group). Experiment 1 examined negative social interactions using different methods in two sub‐experiments, while Experiment 2 focused on positive social interactions to examine whether participants viewed social category members as intrinsically obligated to avoid harming each other and to offer assistance. Results revealed that teenagers evaluated within‐group harm and non‐help as unacceptable, regardless of external rules, whereas they viewed between‐group harm and non‐help as both acceptable and unacceptable, depending on the presence of external rules. Conversely, young adults considered both within‐group and between‐group harm/non‐help as more acceptable if an external rule permitted such behavior. These findings suggest that teenagers believe that members of a social category are intrinsically obligated to help and not harm each other, whereas young adults believe that individual social interactions are constrained mainly by external rules. That is, teenagers hold stronger beliefs than young adults about intrinsic interpersonal obligations to group members. Thus, in‐group moral obligations and external rules contribute differently to the evaluation and interpretation of social interactions at different developmental stages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teenagers' but not young adults' beliefs about intrinsic interpersonal obligations for group members

Gao

Hua³

et al. 2023

PsyCh Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Forty-five validated animations from previous fMRI studies were presented ( Chen et al, 2020a , b ). Each animation was comprised of three images, with no duration limit set for the 1st image, but a 200 ms duration set for the 2nd image, and a 1,000 ms duration set for the 3rd image, and portraying the following scenarios: (1) a person who is alleviating physical pain from a suffering person (helping) (e.g., removing a rock on top of a crushed leg or hand), (2) a person who is taking an action to physically harm another person (harming), and (3) a baseline stimuli depicting a person carrying out an action that is irrelevant to another person (neutral).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The anti-anxiety drug lorazepam changes implicit behaviors but not explicit evaluations of sense of agency under authoritative pressure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

et al. 2022

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Previous research on coercion has neglected the fact that agents under authoritative pressure may also suffer from coercive power, which can trigger anxiety-like emotional negativity on its victims. Furthermore, high levels of neuroticism and/or anxiety have been found to be associated with the compliance of various forms of social pressure. In this study, we investigate the effects of the anxiolytic GABAA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) modulator, lorazepam, on behavioral and neural responses to coercive power. Here, we applied a virtual obedience to authority paradigm alongside lorazepam administration (versus placebo), and during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Our results show that lorazepam administration exerted differential effects on the reaction times (RTs) when initiating harming versus helping behaviors, with longer harming RTs compared to helping RTs, despite comparable subjective ratings regarding perceived coercion. Coercive harming significantly increased activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Lorazepam administration decreased amygdala and hippocampus activity, but increased dlPFC and right temporoparietal junction activations. The lower activity in the hippocampus predicted higher ratings for perceived coercion. Furthermore, lorazepam significantly decreased the functional connectivity of the hippocampus with the dlPFC during coercive harming. In conclusion, we provide evidence –by incorporating multimodal indices, including neuroimaging, neuropharmacological interventions, and behavioral assessments– to posit that the GABAA agonist, lorazepam, might aid as a possible intervention in service of coping strategies against coercion.

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“…Visual stimuli 45 validated animations from previous fMRI studies were presented to participants in the coercivehelping and coercive-harming tasks (Chen et al, 2020a;Chen et al, 2020b). Each animation was comprised of three images, with no duration limit set for the 1st image, but a 200 milliseconds duration set for the 2nd image, and a 1000 milliseconds duration set for the 3rd image, and portraying the following scenarios: [1] a person who is alleviating physical pain from a suffering person (helping), [2] a person who is taking an action to physically harm another person (harming), and [3] a baseline stimuli depicting a person carrying out an action that is irrelevant to another person (neutral).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GABA Boosts Relief from Coercive Power: an fMRI study

Cheng¹,

Martínez²,

Chen³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Individuals under coercive control frequently suffer from anxiety, with recent research asserting this situation as a catalyst for certain types of violence directed towards those suffering under the most serious and insidious forms of coercive power –such as domestic violence victims. Studies researching this matter have skewed towards dissembling manipulation, or participants' obedience levels, neglecting the fact that agents under coercive power are also victims of coercive violence. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigate the effects of the anxiolytic GABAA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) modulator, lorazepam, on behavioral and neural levels in response to coercive power. We used a virtual obedience to authority paradigm inspired in Milgram's renowned experiments of the same nature. An experimenter ordered a volunteer to press a handheld button to initiate actions that carry different moral consequences, including harming or helping others. Our results showed that lorazepam administration, relative to placebo, slowed down reaction times when initiating harming behaviors, but accelerated reaction times for helping actions, despite comparable subjective ratings regarding perceived coercion. Coercive harming significantly increased activation in the amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). After lorazepam administration, activity in the amygdala and hippocampus decreased, but activity in the dlPFC and right temporoparietal junction increased. The lower activity in the hippocampus predicted higher subjective ratings for perceived coercion. Furthermore, lorazepam administration significantly decreased the functional connectivity of the hippocampus with the dlPFC during coercive harming. Our results shed light on the coping strategies against coercion beyond merely examining its effects.

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Pointing fingers at others: The neural correlates of actor-observer asymmetry in blame attribution

Cited by 6 publications

References 90 publications

Teenagers' but not young adults' beliefs about intrinsic interpersonal obligations for group members

Teenagers' but not young adults' beliefs about intrinsic interpersonal obligations for group members

The anti-anxiety drug lorazepam changes implicit behaviors but not explicit evaluations of sense of agency under authoritative pressure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

GABA Boosts Relief from Coercive Power: an fMRI study

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