The Influence of Intention-Based Moral Judgment on Empathy for Pain: A Behavioral and ERP Study

Previous research has found that moral judgment plays a crucial role in the process of empathy. Among these, behavioral intention, as a core dimension of moral judgment, may significantly affect how individuals empathize with others' pain. However, the specific neural mechanisms by which behavioral intentions modulate empathy for pain remain unclear. This study employed the moral situation story method and empathy for pain paradigm, and utilized event-related potentials (ERPs) technology to investigate the effects of malicious, accidental, and neutral behaviors on empathy for pain. At the behavioral level, the interaction between the intention type and the picture type was significant, as in the condition of painful pictures, the pain ratings in the accidental and neutral conditions were significantly higher than those in the malicious condition, while this difference was not significant in the malicious condition. At the neural level, the interaction between the intention type and the picture type was also significant, as in the accidental and neutral conditions, the theta-band oscillations induced by painful pictures were significantly higher than those by non-painful pictures, while this difference was not significant in the malicious condition. Besides, although malicious conditions elicited greater P3 and LPC amplitudes than accidental and neutral conditions, no interaction was found between intention type and picture type. These results show that moral intentions not only affect people's empathic responses to others' pain but also influence the empathic motivation and emotional engagement of observers, as manifested in changes of theta-band event-related synchronization (ERS). The present study advanced the understanding of the neural regulatory mechanism of empathy for pain and revealed the critical role of behavioral intentions as a core dimension of moral judgment, providing theoretical insights for fostering interpersonal understanding and social-emotional connection.