Why people engage in corrupt collaboration: an observation at the multi-brain level

Abstract Recent studies suggest that corrupt collaboration (i.e. acquiring private benefits with joint immoral acts) represents a dilemma between the honesty and reciprocity norms. In this study, we asked pairs of participants (labeled as A and B) to individually toss a coin and report their outcomes; their collective benefit could be maximized by dishonestly reporting (a corrupt behavior). As expected, the likelihood of corrupt behavior was high; this probability was negatively correlated with player A’s moral judgment ability but positively correlated with player B’s empathic concern (EC). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy data revealed that the brain-to-brain synchronization in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with fewer corrupt behaviors, and that it mediated the relationship between player A’s moral judgment ability and corrupt collaboration. Meanwhile, the right temporal–parietal junction synchronization was associated with more corrupt behaviors, and that it mediated the relationship between player B’s EC and corrupt collaboration. The roles of these 2 regions are interpreted according to the influence of the honesty and reciprocity norms on corrupt collaboration. In our opinion, these findings provide insight into the underlying mechanisms and modulating factors of corrupt collaboration.