title: The conforming brain and deontological resolve.
abstract: Our personal values are subject to forces of social influence. Deontological resolve captures how strongly one relies on absolute rules of right and wrong in the representation of one's personal values and may predict willingness to modify one's values in the presence of social influence. Using fMRI, we found that a neurobiological metric for deontological resolve based on relative activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) during the passive processing of sacred values predicted individual differences in conformity. Individuals with stronger deontological resolve, as measured by greater VLPFC activity, displayed lower levels of conformity. We also tested whether responsiveness to social reward, as measured by ventral striatal activity during social feedback, predicted variability in conformist behavior across individuals but found no significant relationship. From these results we conclude that unwillingness to conform to others' values is associated with a strong neurobiological representation of social rules.
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pincus
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: LaViers
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Prietula
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berns
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007600:Judgment; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009014:Morals; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D012925:Social Conformity; D055815:Young Adult