Theoretical framework demonstrates the independence of moral orientation from cognitive awareness in human motivation, indicating four distinct behavioral phenotypes.
This conceptual paper challenges the classical assumption linking cognitive maturity with prosocial behavior, proposing a novel theoretical model that radically decouples "moral orientation" from "cognitive-social awareness" as two functionally and biologically independent axes. The model is operationalized through a 2x2 binary intersection matrix generating four distinct behavioral phenotypes: the Wise Good, the Calculated Evil, the Reckless Good, and the Destructive Evil. Grounded in neuroanatomical evidence (prefrontal cortex vs. limbic/emotional circuits), self-monitoring theory, the Dark Triad framework, and temporal discounting models, this paper presents a comprehensive theoretical framework including the proposed Moral-Executive Cognitive Assessment (MECA) tool.
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Mouhamad Zakaria Boukhodza (2026) studied this question.
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