心理学报2025，Vol.57Issue(8)：1414-1436,23.DOI:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1414
不道德行为中道德标准对自我欺骗的影响:来自ERP的证据
The effect of ethical standards on self-deception in unethical behavior:Evidence from ERP
摘要
Abstract
Self-deception refers to an individual's motivated distortion of facts,resulting in false beliefs that contradict true beliefs and deviate from reality.Self-deception is a complex,widespread psychological phenomenon.While research often emphasizes its positive effects,its negative impacts on mental health,behavior,and society—particularly within the moral domain—should not be overlooked.As self-deception is pervasive in immoral behavior,it exacerbates immoral conduct and leads to serious consequences.Therefore,studying the inhibitory effect of moral standards on self-deception is crucial for understanding its broader implications. This study aims to explore the psychological role and neural mechanisms of self-deception in immoral behavior using event-related potential(ERP)technology,focusing on how moral standards inhibit self-deception.Experiment 1 investigates the neural basis of self-deception in immoral behavior.In this experiment,immoral behavior was induced in participants using the sender-receiver paradigm,and self-deception was measured through participants'predictions of random probability values.Behavioral results revealed that,in deception trials,participants were significantly more likely to make predictions that underestimated their true beliefs compared to honest trials.EEG results showed that,compared to honest trials,deception trials evoked larger N2 and P300 components.Further analysis found that in the centroparietal and parietal regions,deception trials elicited larger P2 components compared to honest trials.Experiment 2 employed a moral standards priming task to investigate how attention to moral standards influences self-deception,aiming to compare behavioral responses and EEG amplitude differences between experimental and control groups.Under control conditions,behavioral results indicated that participants in deception trials were significantly more likely to make predictions that underestimated their true beliefs compared to honest trials.EEG results showed that,under the moral standards priming condition,the P2 and N2 components elicited during deception trials were significantly lower than those in honest trials.These findings suggest that in immoral behavior,participants are more prone to forming false beliefs,leading to self-deception.Enhanced attention to moral standards can effectively reduce self-deception. This study explored the psychological role and neural mechanisms of self-deception in immoral behavior through two experiments,focusing on how moral standards inhibit it.Experiment 1 revealed that immoral behavior facilitates self-deception,while Experiment 2 confirmed that increasing attention to moral standards significantly reduces the tendency for self-deception,as shown by reduced false beliefs,cognitive conflict,and emotional motivation.The results support the self-concept maintenance theory,indicating that moral standards effectively inhibit self-deception by interfering with the rationalization process.This study provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of self-deception and suggests novel approaches for moral interventions.关键词
自我欺骗/不道德行为/道德标准/信念/事件相关电位Key words
self-deception/immoral behavior/moral standards/beliefs/event-related potentials分类
社会科学引用本文复制引用
范伟,杨颖,郭希亚,林卓铭,钟毅平..不道德行为中道德标准对自我欺骗的影响:来自ERP的证据[J].心理学报,2025,57(8):1414-1436,23.基金项目
国家自然科学基金面上项目(32371126),湖南省研究生科研创新项目(CX20230487). （32371126）
