Acute psychosocial stress and everyday moral decision-making: behavioral effects, psychoneuroendocrinological responses, and neuronal activity

在日常生活中，道德决策经常需要在严重的压力下做出。尽管有经验证据表明，压力和压力激素都会影响各个领域的决策，包括经济、社会和抽象的道德决策，但令人惊讶的是，很少有人尝试探索压力对日常道德决策的影响。因此，本项目的首要目标是通过实验研究急性心理社会压力影响男性和女性在日常道德冲突情况下的决策。有了这份继续资助提案的申请（已删除签名），我们申请将工作人员拨款从30个月延长到36个月。最初的项目包括两个主要研究。在第一个主要的实验实验室研究中，我们首次应用受试者内设计（结果可用）调查了急性心理社会压力对日常道德决策的影响。在第二项主要实验研究中，我们的目标是使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）检查急性应激暴露后日常道德决策中的行为影响和神经元激活模式（数据收集仍未完成）。对于主要研究2，一个必要的先决条件是开发和建立新的fMRI兼容范式（安慰剂版的ScanSTRESS范式和道德决策范式）。到目前为止，这些新范式的发展已经成功完成。但是，这个过程比最初计划的要复杂得多（包括内容和技术），特别是更耗时。在进行主要研究1和主要研究2的准备工作的同时，我们成功地进行了以下额外的研究问题：在为两项主要研究开发了新的刺激材料后，进行了四项独立的验证研究。这导致了EMCS量表的建立（发表于Singer et al., 2019）。在另一项行为研究（受试者间设计）中，我们调查了压力对日常道德决策影响的时间依赖性（Singer et al., In preparation）。由于主要研究1（受试者内设计）的结果并没有证实预期的压力对日常道德决策的影响，我们还对主要研究1 （Singer et al.，在准备阶段）进行了复制。申请工作人员拨款继续拨款6个月后，仍未完成的主要研究2将进行。

In everyday life, moral decisions frequently need to be made under acute stress. Although there is empirical evidence that both stress and stress hormones affect decision-making in various domains including economic, social, and abstract moral decision-making, surprisingly few attempts have been made to explore the effects of stress on everyday moral decision-making. Therefore, the overarching goal of this project is to experimentally investigate the thesis that acute psychosocial stress influences decision-making in everyday moral conflict situations in both men and women.With this application for continuated funding of the proposal (sign removed), we apply for an extension of staff appropriations from 30 to 36 months. The original project comprised two main studies. In a first main experimental laboratory study, we investigated the impact of acute psychosocial stress on everyday moral decision-making applying for the first time a within-subjects design (results available). In a second main experimental study, we aim to examine behavioral effects and, for the first time, neuronal activation patterns during everyday moral decision-making after acute stress exposure using fMRI (data collection still outstanding). For main study 2, an essential prerequisite was the development and establishment of new fMRI compatible paradigms (placebo version of the ScanSTRESS paradigm and moral decision-making paradigm). These new paradigm developments have been successfully accomplished by now. Though, this process turned out to be much more complex (with regard to content as well as technically) and especially more time-consuming than originally planned. Simultaneously to main study 1 and the preparatory works for main study 2, we successfully pursued the following additional research questions: After the development of new stimulus material for both main studies, four independent validation studies have been conducted. This led to the establishment of the EMCS Scale (published in Singer et al., 2019). In an additional behavioral study (between-subjects design), we investigated the time dependency of stress effects on everyday moral decision-making (Singer et al., in preparation). Since the results of main study 1 (within-subjects design) did not confirm the expected stress effects on everyday moral decision-making, we additionally conducted a replication of main study 1 (Singer et al., in preparation). With this application for continuated funding of staff appropriations for 6 months, the still outstanding main study 2 will be conducted.