The power of social influence on (non-)moral decision-making: A review of behavioral effects and neural mechanisms
Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
While social influence has been extensively studied in psychology, neuroscientific research on how these processes are represented and regulated in the brain remains in its early stages and has rarely been systematically compared across studies. Notably, in addition to the lack of comparative studies, existing research rarely provides clear insights into how social influence affects different phases of the decision-making process. This limits the ability to develop an integrated approach to understanding the various forms of social influence. This review aims to provide the first comparative analysis in neuroscience on how different forms of social influence—social presence, conformity, compliance, and obedience—impact various phases of human decision-making and the mechanisms that enable resistance to social influence. The goal is to identify similarities and differences among these forms of influence, highlight critical gaps in the existing literature, and propose future research directions. The review also emphasizes the importance of comparative studies that incorporate developmental and cultural perspectives.