Investigating deception-related moral conflict using electroencephalography (EEG) hyperscanning

Authors

Madie Ades

Document Type

Psychology Article

Abstract

Amplitudes of the early Bereitschaftspotential (BP) and deceptive behaviour have been theorised to be modulated by moral conflict experienced when making deceptive decisions, as the decision to lie can depend upon our moral perceptions of what is right and wrong (Panasiti et al., 2014). However, most Electroencephalography (EEG) deception paradigms lack ecological validity by utilising instructed lying and failing to incorporate genuine social interaction (Ganis & Keenan, 2009) and therefore may fail to elicit genuine moral conflict. The present study combined hyperscanning EEG with a competitive two-player social game, where participants freely chose to respond accurately or deceptively for self-gain. The paradigm incorporated a condition of social risk and a measure of impression management (IM; Paulhus, 1988) to investigate their effects on deceptive behaviour and early BP amplitudes. Social risk heightened moral conflict, reflected in reduced lie rates under conditions of social risk. Early BP amplitudes were not modulated by deception or social risk, suggesting that the early BP may not be a reliable measure of moral conflict in deceptive contexts. Deceptive behaviour and early BP amplitudes did not have a relationship with impression management scores, suggesting that level of concern over one’s reputation does not modulate moral conflict and deceptive behaviour. These findings shed light upon the effects of social risk on deceptive behaviour. In order to draw reliable conclusions from the results of the present study, more research is required using larger sample sizes. Future research should aim to maximise ecological validity to increase our understanding of deception in real-life.

Publication Date

2025-12

Publication Title

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Volume

18

Issue

2

ISSN

1754-2383

Deposit Date

2025-12

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Ades, Madie (2025) "Investigating deception-related moral conflict using electroencephalography (EEG) hyperscanning," The Plymouth Student Scientist: Vol. 18: Iss. 2, Article 28.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70156/1754-2383.1514
Available at: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/tpss/vol18/iss2/28