The Price of Your Soul: Neural Evidence for the Non-Utilitarian Representation of Sacred Values

Berns, Gregory S.; Bell, Emily; Capra, C. Mónica; Prietula, Michael J.; Moore, Sara; Anderson, Brittany; Ginges, Jeremy; Atran, Scott

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1817982

Cited by 33 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Although evidence crucially underpins judgement and although some economists might say everything has an implicit or explicit price (Tetlock 2003), value is, as is often attributed to Oscar Wilde, very different to price, and values can be sacrosanct (Tetlock 2003;Berns et al 2012). For example, for many people, fundamental beliefs and values such as love, honour, national and ethnic identities are practically sacred in nature (Tetlock 2003;Berns et al 2012).…”

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, for many people, fundamental beliefs and values such as love, honour, national and ethnic identities are practically sacred in nature (Tetlock 2003;Berns et al 2012).…”

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research shows that when individuals hold some values, certain commitments and relations to be sacred, they may not reason instrumentally, and thus they fail to make trade-offs (Tetlock 2003). Under these circumstances, established penalties or offered motives in policy programmes have no traction on their choices (Tetlock 2003;Ginges et al 2007;Berns et al 2012). The elephant overrides the rider.…”

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a useful tool to measure brain regions associated with decision-making in humans, indicate that deontological (rights and wrongs) and utilitarian (cost and benefits) processing are associated with different brain regions (Berns et al 2012). Indeed, people use neural systems associated with evaluating rights and wrongs (left and right temporoparietal junction) and semantic retrieval (ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) but not brain networks associated with utility when they process statements about sacred values (Berns et al 2012). When sacred values are contradicted, activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that is involved in fear and other emotional processes (Phelps and LeDoux 2005), increases.…”

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When sacred values are contradicted, activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that is involved in fear and other emotional processes (Phelps and LeDoux 2005), increases. This is indicative of negative emotion (Berns et al 2012), and one which causes the metaphorical elephant to react. Importantly, the overall assessment of the action in decision-making is supplied by the amygdala (Shenhav and Greene 2014).…”

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Looking under the bonnet of conservation conflicts: can neuroscience help?

Can

Macdonald

2018

Biodivers Conserv

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Neuroscience-a branch of biology seemingly distant from nature/wildlife conservation is revolutionised by the ability to visualise the brain activity of humans. Using positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalograhy (MEG), neuroscience is revealing how humans are wired in ways that have bearing on any problem that involves values; and nature/wildlife conservation is surely one of those. Understanding how the human brain represents and processes morality and sacred values, and responds to conflicts could shed a powerful light on nature/wildlife conservation tactics. Conservation polices typically involve utilitarian considerations. However, research shows that conservation policies based solely on utilitarian considerations are likely to fail as the neurological process of rights and wrongs grates against the process of cost and benefits.

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Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, for many people, fundamental beliefs and values such as love, honour, national and ethnic identities are practically sacred in nature (Tetlock 2003;Berns et al 2012).…”

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Human Brain Sacred Values and Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Looking under the bonnet of conservation conflicts: can neuroscience help?

Can

Macdonald

2018

Biodivers Conserv

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Justice at any cost? The impact of cost–benefit salience on criminal punishment judgments

Aharoni

Kleider-Offutt

Brosnan

2018

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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This study investigated the effect of cost–benefit salience on simulated criminal punishment judgments. In two vignette‐based survey experiments, we sought to identify how the salience of decision costs influences laypeople's punishment judgments. In both experiments (N1 = 109; N2 = 398), undergraduate participants made sentencing judgments with and without explicit information about the direct, material costs of incarceration. Using a within‐subjects design, Experiment 1 revealed that increasing the salience of incarceration costs mitigated punishments. However, when costs were not made salient, punishments were no lower than those made when the costs were externalized (i.e., paid by a third party). Experiment 2 showed the same pattern using a between‐subjects design. We conclude that, when laypeople formulate sentencing attitudes without exposure to the costs of the punishment, they are prone to discount those costs, behaving as if punishment is societally cost‐free. However, when cost information is salient, they utilize it, suggesting the operation of a genuine, albeit labile, punishment preference. We discuss the implications of these findings for psychological theories of decision making and for sentencing policy, including the degree of transparency about the relevant costs of incarceration during the decision process.

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Handbook of International Negotiation

Galluccio¹

2015

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contributor Mauro Galluccio's present volume appears to fi ll in an existing and ever more visible void in shaping an entirely new approach in modern-day diplomacy. The signifi cance of this book can hardly be over-rated. It offers an entirely new political and psychological angle to transforming confl ict by managing interpersonal dynamics and tailoring preventive behaviors. It alerts us to the crucial role of the mental heritage of confl icts and powerful emotions. In brief, it enhances an entirely new type of negotiation as a fundamental tool of managing, preventing, and resolving confl ict by acknowledging the diversity of mental viewpoints about any given reality.This volume can indeed serve as a handbook to practitioners-diplomats and decision-makers-in educating themselves, in reshaping their own outlook, and in even bettering themselves as individuals in positions of authority and responsibility for bringing positive change to the lives of millions of people. Elena Poptodorova Ambassador of Bulgaria to the United StatesGalluccio has brought together a distinguished and diverse group of scholars and practitioners to address an enduring, if evolving, challenge to human wellbeing: violent confl ict between nations and subnational groups. His aim is to organize the interdisciplinary character of the research, on which the authors draw, into coherent perspectives on the causes of confl icts and potentially effective interventions designed to prevent and resolve them.There is much that is new here. Perhaps most important, there is a focus on the personal and emotional character of confl ict-for those who engage in it and those who intervene to mitigate it.

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The Price of Your Soul: Neural Evidence for the Non-Utilitarian Representation of Sacred Values

Cited by 33 publications

References 40 publications

Looking under the bonnet of conservation conflicts: can neuroscience help?

Looking under the bonnet of conservation conflicts: can neuroscience help?

Justice at any cost? The impact of cost–benefit salience on criminal punishment judgments

Handbook of International Negotiation

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