To Blame or Not? Modulating Third-Party Punishment with the Framing Effect.
10.1007/s12264-021-00808-3
- Author:
Jiamiao YANG
1
;
Ruolei GU
2
;
Jie LIU
3
;
Kexin DENG
1
;
Xiaoxuan HUANG
1
;
Yue-Jia LUO
4
;
Fang CUI
5
Author Information
1. School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
2. CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
3. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
4. Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
5. School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China. cuifang0826@gmail.com.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Framing effect;
Functional magnetic resonance imaging;
Insula;
Mid-cingulate cortex;
Third-party punishment
- MeSH:
Empathy;
Female;
Gyrus Cinguli;
Humans;
Neuroimaging;
Pain;
Punishment/psychology*
- From:
Neuroscience Bulletin
2022;38(5):533-547
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
People as third-party observers, without direct self-interest, may punish norm violators to maintain social norms. However, third-party judgment and the follow-up punishment might be susceptible to the way we frame (i.e., verbally describe) a norm violation. We conducted a behavioral and a neuroimaging experiment to investigate the above phenomenon, which we call the "third-party framing effect". In these experiments, participants observed an anonymous perpetrator deciding whether to keep her/his economic benefit while exposing a victim to a risk of physical pain (described as "harming others" in one condition and "not helping others" in the other condition), then they had a chance to punish that perpetrator at their own cost. Our results showed that the participants were more willing to execute third-party punishment under the harm frame compared to the help frame, manifesting a framing effect. Self-reported anger toward perpetrators mediated the relationship between empathy toward victims and the framing effect. Meanwhile, activation of the insula mediated the relationship between mid-cingulate cortex activation and the framing effect; the functional connectivity between these regions significantly predicted the size of the framing effect. These findings shed light on the psychological and neural mechanisms of the third-party framing effect.
