Abstract:

Third-party punishment (TPP) is a substantial and special kind of altruistic behaviors, which could help maintain social norms and human cooperation. A large body of research has studied norm conformity like fair behaviors and its underlying cognitive mechanisms, merely few studies, however, have discussed norm enforcement behaviors like TPP and its cognitive process. One issue of strong interest is the way how cognitive control influences TPP. Thus, through (1) exploring the specific role of cognitive control in TPP by means of employing different technical methods; (2) from the perspective of developmental psychology, examining how the effects of cognitive control vary by stages of development, particularly focusing on preschoolers and adolescents, who are undergoing rapid development of cognitive control, the present project aims to deepen the understanding of the cognitive basis of TPP, explain the developmental trajectory of TPP, and help build a psychological model for the TPP decision making.

Key words: third-party punishment, cognitive control, empathy, justice sensitivity, emotion