The Neural Signature of Social Norm Compliance
Open accessAbstract
All known human societies establish social order by punishing violators of social norms. However, little is known about how the brain processes the punishment threat associated with norm violations. We use fMRI to study the neural circuitry behind social norm compliance by comparing a treatment in which norm violations can be punished with a control treatment in which punishment is impossible. Individuals' increase in norm compliance when punishment is possible exhibits a strong positive correlation with activations in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Moreover, lateral orbitofrontal cortex activity is strongly correlated with Machiavellian personality characteristics. These findings indicate a neural network involved in social norm compliance that might constitute an important basis for human sociality. Different activations of this network reveal individual differences in the behavioral response to the punishment threat and might thus provide a deeper understanding of the neurobiological sources of pathologies such as antisocial personality disorder.
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Previous studies have linked inhibition of self-interest and top-down control of selfish behavior with right lateral prefrontal cortex, such as right lOFC and right dlPFC.
“Previous studies have linked inhibition of self-interest and top-down control of selfish behavior with right lateral prefrontal cortex 17 , such as right lOFC 18,19 and right dlPFC 20 .”
From Oxytocin modulates social value representations in the amygdala (2019) · cites this paper as [18]
It is possible that individualists perceive deviations from their preferred allocation mainly as conflicts with self-interest, consistent with studies related to inhibition of self-interest conflict and evaluating threats to self-interest.
“However, it is possible that individualists perceive deviations from their preferred allocation mainly as conflicts with self-interest, consistent with studies related to inhibition of self-interest conflict and evaluating threats to self-interest 18,19 .”
From Oxytocin modulates social value representations in the amygdala (2019) · cites this paper as [18]
Right lOFC activation is associated with inhibition of self-interest, reward-guided decisions and detecting and evaluating threats to self-interest.
“Right lOFC activation is associated with inhibition of self-interest, reward-guided decisions and detecting and evaluating threats to self-interest 18,19 .”
From Oxytocin modulates social value representations in the amygdala (2019) · cites this paper as [18]
Previous fMRI studies have provided considerable evidence that DLPFC is required for the implementation of basic perceptual as well as complex social decisions and judgments.
“previous fMRI studies have provided considerable evidence that DLPFC is required for the implementation of basic perceptual (Heekeren et al., 2004(Heekeren et al., , 2006) ) as well as complex social decisions and judgments (Knoch et al., 2006(Knoch et al., , 2009;;Spitzer et al., 2007;Steinbeis et al., 2012;Tassy et al., 2012).”
From Age-related differences in function and structure of rSMG and reduced functional connectivity with DLPFC explains heightened emotional egocentricity bias in childhood (2015) · cites this paper as Spitzer et al., 2007
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References 61 · Cited by 584
- Authors
- Spitzer, M., Fischbacher, U., Herrnberger, B., Grön, G., & Fehr, E.
- Affiliations
- Universität Ulm (DE)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Spitzer, Manfred
- Fehr, Ernst
- Venue
- Neuron
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-10
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 185-196
- ISSN
- 0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2169233494
- Semantic Scholar
- 9efcfe2e7a05b1d66efb65443ac79845bfec8ca2
- Cited by
- 584
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 11.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 2116 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Neuron (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Universität Zürich
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Keywords
- norm violation, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, Machiavellianism, individual differences, antisocial personality disorder, social order
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Emotions, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net, Oxygen, Punishment, Social Behavior, Transfer, Psychology
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