Psychological Science 2022

Perturbation of Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Makes Power Holders Less Resistant to Tempting Bribes

Yang Hu^1,2,3; Rémi Philippe^4,1,2; Valentin Guigon^4,1,2; Sasa Zhao^4,1,2; Edmund Derrington^4,1,2; Brice Corgnet^5,6; James Bonaiuto^4,1,2; Jean‐Claude Dreher^4,1,2

¹ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · ² Institut des Sciences Cognitives · ³ East China Normal University · ⁴ Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 · ⁵ Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St Etienne · ⁶ École de management de Lyon

Abstract

Bribery is a common form of corruption that takes place when a briber suborns a power holder to achieve an advantageous outcome at the cost of moral transgression. Although bribery has been extensively investigated in the behavioral sciences, its underlying neurobiological basis remains poorly understood. Here, we employed transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) in combination with a novel paradigm ( N = 119 adults) to investigate whether disruption of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) causally changed bribe-taking decisions of power holders. Perturbing rDLPFC via tDCS specifically made participants more willing to take bribes as the relative value of the offer increased. This tDCS-induced effect could not be explained by changes in other measures. Model-based analyses further revealed that such neural modulation alters the concern for generating profits for oneself via taking bribes and reshapes the concern for the distribution inequity between oneself and the briber, thereby influencing the subsequent decisions. These findings reveal a causal role of rDLPFC in modulating corrupt behavior.

DOI

10.1177/09567976211042379

Sources

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APA 7 MLA 9 Chicago (author–date) Harvard Elsevier Harvard (JFE, JBF…) The Accounting Review Academy of Management American Marketing Association INFORMS (Management Science) Copy citation Copied ✓