Moral ‘slippery slope’: Neuroscience reveals how fibbing can spiral out of control
People who tell small, self-serving lies are likely to progress to bigger falsehoods, and over time, the brain appears to adapt to the dishonesty, according to a new study. The finding, the researchers said, provides evidence for the “slippery slope” sometimes described by wayward politicians, corrupt financiers, unfaithful spouses and others in explaining their misconduct. “They usually tell a story where they started small and got larger and larger, and then they suddenly found themselves committing quite severe acts,” said Tali Sharot, an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London. … Amitai Shenhav, a psychologist at Brown University who has studied moral decision-making,…said the findings were “suggestive of a slippery slope.” But he added that it was still not entirely clear what was driving people down that slope.…
Link to Full Article: Moral ‘slippery slope’: Neuroscience reveals how fibbing can spiral out of control
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