10. Morality and Antisocial Behavior

Trolley vs Footbridge Problem

Personal dilemmas activate emotion and ToM regions while impersonal activate lateral PFC

Moral Emotions

Emotions from comparing behavior to a norm/standard

• Guilt (self-focused)

• Anger (other-focused)

• Moral disgust (character judgment)

Greene Dual-Process Model

Competition between emotional and cognitive systems in moral decisions

Orbitofrontal / vmPFC Damage

Patients show increased utilitarian decisions due to reduced emotional input

Moral Brain Network

Amygdala and insula for emotion, OFC and mPFC for evaluation, TPJ for mentalizing

Intentions vs Outcomes

TPJ involvement shows importance of mentalizing in moral judgment

Autism Moral Judgment

Greater reliance on outcomes due to reduced integration of intentions

Instrumental aggression

Goal-directed (e.g. psychopathy)

Reactive aggression

Response to threat/frustration

Culture of Honor

Norm violence is justified to defend reputation or respond to insult

Linked to higher acceptance of:

• Retaliation (support of capital punishment)

• Aggressive responses to provocation

Frustration–Aggression Model

Frustration triggers anger which biases attention toward threat and increases aggression

Amygdala Role in Aggression

Detects threat and modulates aggressive responses

PAG Function

Generates defensive rage responses via subcortical pathways

OFC Damage

Impaired impulse control leads to reactive aggression

MAOA (“Warrior”) Gene

Low activity variant increases aggression especially under maltreatment conditions

Testosterone Mechanism

Biases behavior toward dominance and aggression depending on context

Culture and Aggression

BMoral Reasoning in Psychopathsiology sets baseline and culture modulates

Moral Reasoning of Psychopaths

Know right vs wrong BUT justifications based on rules, not harm

Fear Deficit Theory

Psychopathy linked to reduced amygdala activity and weak response to others’ distress

Conduct Disorder

Normal ToM but reduced empathy and possible reward response to others’ pain

Cognitive Depletion

Reduced self-control leads to stronger aggressive responses after prior effort