Neural correlates of the motivation to be moral

Previous research has revealed that it is important for people to be moral. Nevertheless, they may sometimes commit immoral acts. In this dissertation, I examined when people tend to act in ways that are considered moral; whether it is important for them to be perceived as moral by others; and how much they care whether or not they succeed in behaving according to their moral values. Additionally, I used neuroscientific (i.e., EEG and fMRI) and psychophysiological (i.e., skin conductance) research methods to gain insight in some of the processes underlying these questions. Extending previous research by examining people's actual moral behavior and shedding light on the cognitive and affective processes underlying their acts, the findings in this dissertation reveal not only that, but also when and how people behave according to their moral values.SNS Reaal KNAW Merian prize and NWO SpinozaSocial decision makin