Studying the physiological relationship between Cognitive Flexibility and Moral Decision-Making

Abstract

As a human, moral decision-making plays a crucial role in our life because the consequences of our decisions affect others' welfare. Our physiological changes (i.e., increased heart rate) might influence our judgment. Furthermore, our ability to deal with the outcomes of our decisions is essential to move on with our lives. This study investigates the physiological relationship between cognitive flexibility, which commonly refers to the ability to shift cognitive set to perceive and respond to situational demands and moral decision-making. Heart rate variability (HRV), the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats change, and pupil dilation are being used as biomarkers to observe our physiological changes when facing new circumstances. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) measures cognitive flexibility and a set of moral dilemmas in the virtual environment employed for moral decision-making tasks. Our findings demonstrate a positive correlation (not statistically significant) between cognitive flexibility and variability in the deontological and utilitarian decisions. A positive correlation (not statistically significant) has been found between resting state HRV and cognitive flexibility. A negative correlation (not statistically significant) is seen between resting state HRV and consistency in moral decision-making. We compared our participants' reports with their pupil behavior when facing different moral contexts. A positive correlation (not statistically significant) has been noticed between the reports and pupils' diameter changes when they face a moral decision-making task. Although none of our findings were statistically significant, this research contains great prospects for enhancing our understanding of the link between cognitive flexibility and moral decision-making.