by Amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life, witnessing an act of injustice can evoke strong emotional responses. However, a recent study published in the journal PLOS Biology on May 14, 2023, suggests that being under stress may actually push us towards altruistic behavior rather than punishment. Huagen Wang from Beijing Normal University, China, and his team explored the neural mechanisms behind third-party intervention in stressful situations.
When faced with injustice, our brains require more cognitive resources to mete out punishment than to offer assistance. Previous research indicates that individuals under stress, including adolescent stress, tend to behave selflessly, preferring to help the victim instead of punishing the wrongdoer. This observation aligns with theories suggesting that distinct brain networks govern intuitive, quick decisions and deliberate, slow decisions.
To delve deeper into the neural processes driving third-party intervention under stress, Wang and his colleagues enlisted 52 participants to complete a simulated third-party intervention task in an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanner. Participants watched as someone decided how to distribute an endowment of cash between themselves and another character. Afterward, the participant decided whether to take money away from the first character or give money to the second. Half of these participants underwent a stress induction by submerging their hands in ice water for three minutes before starting the task.
The researchers discovered that acute stress influenced decision-making in situations where someone kept the majority of the cash they were supposed to share with someone else. They observed increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) – a brain region associated with mentalizing and decision-making – when stressed participants opted to punish an offender. Computational modeling revealed that acute stress reduced the bias towards punishment, raising the likelihood that someone would help a victim instead.
These findings shed light on the complex interplay between stress and third-party intervention, offering valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying altruistic behavior in response to injustice.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
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