The Neuroscience of Morality

One immoral act begets anotherbut so does an act of moral courage

- BY ELIZABETH SVOBODA

IT STARTED WITH AN INNOCENT MISTAKE.

Texas entrepreneur Chris Bentley had founded a company to buy drilling rights for oil and gas. He realized that a batch of letters he'd sent to landowners, offering to lease their rights, had incorrect information, including monetary amounts and other details.

But instead of correcting the errors, Bentley doubled down, not wanting to admit his mistake. When the letters failed to secure enough land leases to generate big profits, Bentley tried to make up the difference by sinking his investors' money into new, risky deals, some of which faltered and drained the coffers of his company, Bellatorum Resources. Then, as the company's cash flow dried up, Bentley started putting bogus transactions on the books to keep his employees paid. He didn't stop until he'd committed $40 million worth of fraud. “I basically did the age-old ‘rob Peter to pay Paul,’” says Bentley, who was recently released from prison into home confinement. “Everything started going downhill.”

Moral death spirals such as Bentley's happen in every sphere of public life, from business to local government to the highest levels of political leadership. The deterioration often begins with a small dishonest act—such as Bentley's decision to bluff his way through what had been an honest error—and mounts until it reaches a point of no return. Some escalating crimes are financial; others progress toward human rights violations or worse.

Brain and psychology researchers are delving into how slides down the moral slope begin and what keeps them going. Initially we may be horrified at the thought of lying, cheating or hurting someone. But as we engage in wrongdoing over and over, our brains tend to grow numb to it. It’s harder to embezzle or kill for the first time than it is for the tenth.