Share:
Scientists brain stimulation - honesty can be increased
Honesty is one of the most important traits for most people. Nevertheless, every human being is lying or dizzying in his life. Scientists have now found in an experiment that can increase honesty - by means of brain stimulation.
Helping the honesty on the jumps
"Honestly defends the longest": This saying probably best expresses how important honesty is to most people. Often it is not so easy to always tell the truth and never to dizzy. Swiss researchers have now experimented with colleagues from the United States in an experiment on how to help honesty on the jump - using light electric shock.
Dishonesty is one of the worst characteristics for most people. Researchers now report that honesty can be boosted by brain stimulation. (Image: Antonioguillem / fotolia.com) Honest behavior can be strengthened
Honesty plays a central role in social and economic life. Without them, promises are not kept or contracts are not fulfilled. Despite this social importance, the biological foundations of honesty are hardly known.
Scientific research has shown that not all people in different circumstances take honesty seriously.
Years ago, scientists from the Universities of Regensburg and Hamburg reported on an experiment that found that women in groups are more honest, while lying in groups in men makes lies worse.
According to US researchers, people's morale fluctuates throughout the day. Their study showed that honesty was more pronounced in the morning than in the evening.
Researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have now shown together with colleagues from Chicago and Boston that honest behavior can be enhanced by brain stimulation. They have demonstrated the process of balancing honesty and material self-interest in the right prefrontal cortex.
Lying for material self-interest
As stated in a college announcement, participants in a dice experiment could increase their profits by saying the untruth, rather than the truth.
The researchers found that the participants actually often said the untruth to increase their profits. However, many participants also kept coming back to the truth.
"Most people weigh up motives of self-interest for honesty on a case-by-case basis. They cheat now and then, but not on every occasion, "said Michel Maréchal, UZH Professor of Experimental Economic Research.
On the other hand, around eight percent of the participants always lied, if possible, in order to maximize their profits.
Brain cells become more active
In order to stimulate the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the brain area where this process of consideration takes place, the researchers used transcranial DC stimulation. This non-invasive method of brain stimulation increases the sensitivity of brain cells - the cells tend to be more active.
As soon as the researchers stimulated the subjects, they lied less. However, the number of those who consistently lied for profit maximization remained unchanged.
Christian Ruff, Professor of Neuroeconomics at the Department of Economics, University of Zurich, commented: "Stimulation increased honest behavior, especially in those for whom lying was a moral conflict; but it did not affect those who were only interested in maximizing their advantage. ".
The results of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Weighing between material and moral motives
According to the research team, the stimulation only influenced the balance between material and moral motives. The scientists found no impact of the stimulation on conflicts without moral aspects - such as financial decisions that went hand in hand with risks, ambivalence or delayed pay.
Another experiment showed that brain stimulation did not affect the subjects' honesty if another person was favored by the lie and thus there was a conflict between two purely moral motives (honesty or helping another person).
Thus, the stimulated neurobiological process concerned, in particular, the consideration of personal, material self-interests and honesty.
To what extent is dishonesty due to biological predisposition?
The researchers see their results as an important step towards identifying the brain processes that allow people to behave honestly.
"These brain processes could be fundamental to individual differences in honesty - including in terms of pathology," says Ruff.
Recent results raise the question of how honesty is due to biological predisposition. According to the study authors, this should be central to case law.
"If dishonesty is indeed due to biological conditions, our study questions the extent to which people can be held accountable for their behavior," said Michel Maréchal. (Ad)