If you are dealing with a person for the first time and he promises you something, you can not take it for granted. He may or may not keep up his promise. Brains of people are wired to have the habit of making or breaking the promises. Scientists from the University of Zurich have discovered the physiological mechanisms in the brain corresponding to hounouring the promises.
The study by Dr. Thomas Baumgartner and Professor Ernst Fehr, both of the University of Zurich, and Professor Urs Fischbacher of the University of Konstanz, appear in the journal Neuron, December 10, 2009.
Promise and keeping or not keeping it up is one of the oldest human-specific behaviors. It has great importance in interpersonal relations for trust and cooperation. Though not legally binding, promises have social and economic implications.
The main reasons for breaking a promise are gains in doing so. Among the people who casually break the promises are: business people, politicians, diplomats, and attorneys.
Though we know these aspects of promise, so far, we have very little understanding of the brain physiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. The experiments by neuroscientist Thomas Baumgartner (University of Zurich) and economists Ernst Fehr (University of Zurich) and Urs Fischbacher (University of Konstanz) are aimed at understanding this phenomenon clearly.
These findings are also useful to predict the future behaviour of a particular person.
"We've discovered critical elements of the neuronal basis of broken promises," economist Ernst Fehr explains. "In light of the significance of promises in everyday, interpersonal cohabitation in society, these findings offer the prospect of being able to fathom and better understand the brain physiological basis of pro-social and especially of antisocial behavior in general."
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