A study reveals that stress experienced while witnessing injustice may bias the brain toward altruistic behaviors, such as helping victims over punishing offenders. The research, involving fMRI scans of participants in a decision-making task under stress, shows a shift in brain activity that favors altruistic choices, highlighting the complex influence of stress on moral decisions.
It takes more cognitive effort to punish others than it does to help them. Studies show that when witnessing an act of injustice while stressed, people tend to behave selflessly, preferring to help the victim rather than punish the offender.
Acute stress decreased the third party’s willingness to punish the violator and the severity of the punishment, and increased their willingness to help the victim. Credit: Huagen Wang activation—a brain region typically linked to mentalizing and decision-making—when stressed participants chose to punish an offender. Computational modeling revealed that acute stress reduces bias towards punishment, raising the likelihood that someone will help a victim instead.
The authors add, “Acute stress shifts third-party intervention from punishing the perpetrator to helping the victim.”