Neural Processes Linking Interoception to Moral Preferences Aligned with Group Consensus

Abstract

Aligning one's decisions with the prevailing social norms and expectations of those around us constitutes a fundamental facet of moral decision-making. When faced with conflicting moral values, one adaptive approach is to rely on intuitive moral preference. Although theoretical accounts have proposed a link between moral preferences and interoceptive awareness—the capacity to sense internal bodily signals, this connection has not been empirically examined. This study examines the relationship between moral preferences and interoception, measured with self-report, heartbeat counting task, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two independent experiments demonstrate that both male and female participants’ interoceptive awareness and accuracy are associated with their moral preferences aligned with group consensus. In addition, the fractional occupancies of resting-state brain states involving the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus mediated this relationship. These findings provide empirical evidence of the neural mechanism linking interoception to moral preferences aligned with group consensus.