Project description
A closer look at the science behind disobedience
Obedience to authority can lead individuals to commit morally reprehensible acts. Historical events demonstrate how compliance can result in horrific consequences, often overshadowing personal agency and empathy. Understanding the dynamics of disobedience is crucial for fostering ethical decision-making. Yet, while much research has focused on social factors influencing disobedience, individual neuro-cognitive processes have received less attention. The ERC-funded DISOBEY project will investigate the mechanisms that enable individuals to resist immoral orders. Focusing on the interplay between a sense of agency and empathic responses to others’ pain, it uses a social neuroscience approach. It will examine diverse populations, including military personnel and genocide survivors, to validate its findings and develop educational programmes.
Objective
The core goal of this project is to unravel the mechanisms of disobedience. To understand the factors that prevent an individual from complying with immoral orders, research should focus on two critical axes: (1) which social and situational factors support disobedience and (2) which individual traits and neuro-cognitive processes support disobedience. While the first axe has been extensively addressed in past literature, the second axe has scarcely been approached. DISOBEY is uniquely focused on developing a social neuroscience approach to understanding the mechanisms through which resistance to immoral orders may develop in a given situation. Two main neuro-cognitive processes will be considered: the sense of agency that one experiences when performing a voluntary action and the empathic response towards others’ pain. The main hypothesis is that individuals who retain a high sense of agency and empathy for pain under coercion are more likely to resist immoral orders despite potential social costs. To validate this hypothesis, MRI and neuromodulation techniques will be used. The project will include WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich & Democratic) adults, as well as very unique and rare non-WEIRD populations, such as military, genocide perpetrators, survivors and their offspring in Rwanda, and ‘Righteous’ individuals who rescued lives from extermination during genocides. Including these populations will also allow to validate my hypothesis beyond WEIRD societies, with individuals who actually experienced the disastrous consequences of obedience during real-life events. With this project I aim to pioneer a new area of research that will have deep societal implications. In the future, I intend to develop specific education programs in the future, with the NGOs I am currently working with, for both military members and civilians in vulnerable societies that seek to prevent illegitimate violence on the ground of compliance to authority.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- social sciences law human rights human rights violations
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9000 GENT
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.