The Disobedient Brain: The social neuroscience of non-compliance to immoral orders

The core goal of this project is to unravel the mechanisms of disobedience. To understand the factors that prevent an individual from complying with immoral orders, research should focus on two critical axes: which social and situational factors support disobedience and which individual traits and neuro-cognitive processes support disobedience. While the first axis has been extensively addressed in past literature, the second axis has scarcely been approached. Two main processes will be considered: the sense of agency that one experiences when performing a voluntary action and the empathic response towards others’ pain. The main hypothesis is that individuals who retain a high sense of agency and empathy for pain under coercion are more likely to resist immoral orders despite potential social costs. To validate this hypothesis, neuroimaging and neuromodulation techniques will be used. The project will include WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich & Democratic) adults, as well as very unique populations, such as genocide perpetrators, survivors and their offspring in Rwanda, and ‘Righteous’ individuals who rescued lives from extermination. Including these populations will also allow to validate my hypothesis with individuals who experienced the disastrous consequences of obedience during real-life events. This project could pioneer a new area of research that may have deep societal implications for developing interventions aiming at preventing blind obedience.