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Serotonin selectively influences moral judgment and behavior through effects on harm aversion.

Molly J Crockett¹, Luke Clark, Marc D Hauser

¹Department of Experimental Psychology, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom. mc536@cam.ac.uk

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|September 30, 2010

Summary

Serotonin, a neurotransmitter, influences moral decisions by increasing aversion to harm. This neurochemical may promote prosocial behavior by heightening sensitivity to potential social and emotional damage.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Moral Psychology
Social Behavior

Background:

Moral judgments and prosocial behaviors are influenced by emotional reactions to social harms.
The neurotransmitter serotonin's role in modulating these responses is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the direct impact of serotonin on moral judgment and behavior.
To determine if enhanced serotonin levels increase aversion to personal harm.

Main Methods:

Healthy volunteers received citalopram (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) to enhance serotonin levels.
Participants completed moral dilemmas and the ultimatum game to assess moral judgment and behavior.
Effects were compared to a placebo and a pharmacological control.

Main Results:

Enhanced serotonin increased the likelihood of judging harmful actions as forbidden, particularly in emotionally salient scenarios.
Serotonin enhancement led to less rejection of unfair offers in the ultimatum game, indicating reduced harm aversion.
The prosocial effects of citalopram were more pronounced in individuals with higher trait empathy.

Conclusions:

Serotonin directly influences moral judgment and behavior by modulating harm aversion.
Increased harm aversion, driven by serotonin, may promote prosocial behavior.
Individual differences in empathy moderate the effects of serotonin on moral decision-making.