The Moral Molecule

Neuroscience and economic behavior

Paul J. Zak is a neuroeconomist and director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA. See full bio

September 25, 2008, Behavioral Economics

Comments on "The Moral Molecule"

The Moral Molecule

By Paul J. Zak on September 25, 2008 in The Moral Molecule

Join me for a lunchtime walk I took down K Street in Washington DC about ten years ago. Half a block ahead of me was a well-dressed woman in standard DC garb: jacket, skirt, and heels. Suddenly she tumbled to the ground and hit it with an audible thud. She stayed down and was writhing in obvious pain. Within seconds a crowd gathered. Read More

Steven Pinker

Submitted by Boston Counseling on September 25, 2008 - 9:18pm.

I don't know if Steven Pinker would say oxytocin is the reason humans have social morality. http://www.thriveboston.com

Wondering....

Submitted by The Enigmatic Miss M on September 26, 2008 - 8:45am.

How would you explain the situation in Connecticut a few months ago when an elderly man was the victim of a hit and run in broad daylight and people did not even stop to help him. They either just walked on or stood and stared at the poor guy.

Bystander effect

Submitted by Paul J. Zak on September 26, 2008 - 9:03am.

There is a well-known "bystander effect" in which help is less likely to be offered when many people are around. This seems to reduce the direct responsibility we feel to intervene, and may affect the working of THOMAS, a brain system I discuss in my recent post "Robot Bride Coming Soon". There are also interesting findings on who chooses to help others. They tend more often to be males, have high testosterone, and work in blue-collar type jobs. See the popular book "Heroes, Rogues, and Lovers: Testosterone and Behavior" by Dabbs for more on this.

measurable and manipulable

Submitted by Downtownchris on September 26, 2008 - 11:58pm.

your line "The discovery by my lab in 2004 of a measurable and manipulable brain chemical called oxytocin. . ."

Granted, oxytocin is manipulable, but how does one measure it? Anyone know of a viable test?

Measuring oxytocin

Submitted by Paul J. Zak on September 29, 2008 - 3:12pm.

Chris is right that measuring oxytocin is the hard part. We figured this out in 2004 and have refined and extended this protocol since then. See the published scientific papers from my lab at www.neuroeconomicstudies.org for the details.