# Research > Research on moral psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and statistical computing. Source: [https://www.indrapatil.com/experience/research/](https://www.indrapatil.com/experience/research/) Moral cognition · Neuroscience A decade studying how people judge harm, forgive accidents, and help strangers, alongside software for reproducible research. Press > “We May Have Been Wrong About Autism And Empathy” — [HuffPost](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/autism-empathy-brain-research_n_56f92575e4b014d3fe237413), on our study of moral decision-making in autism Press coverage includes [Time](https://time.com/3242/driving-over-your-best-friend-its-the-right-thing-to-do/), [HuffPost](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/autism-empathy-brain-research_n_56f92575e4b014d3fe237413), and [Vice](https://www.vice.com/en/article/would-you-kill-someone-to-save-five-others-virtual-reality-tells-the-truth/). See [Publications](/publications/) for the full bibliography. Three lines of enquiry ## Research Lines ### Moral Judgement About Harm: Emotion, Reasoning, and Their Interplay When avoiding harm conflicts with maximising welfare, emotional harm aversion and reasoned cost-benefit analysis compete. My research examines what tips the balance. Key findings - Across eight independent studies, reasoning ability predicts utilitarian choices independently of aversion to causing harm[\[1\]](#pub-0-1) - Psychopathy's link to utilitarian judgement reflects reduced aversion to performing harmful acts, not its accompanying reduction in concern for victims[\[3\]](#pub-0-3) - People who reject sacrificing one to save many in written dilemmas nevertheless do so in emotionally arousing virtual reality[\[4\]](#pub-0-4) - Reasoning ability predicts leniency for accidental harm, but not intentional or attempted harm[\[2\]](#pub-0-2) Dual-process theoryMoral dilemmasfMRIVirtual realityBehavioural experiments Relevant Publications (4) - \[1\] **Patil, I.**\* , Zucchelli, M.M.\*, Kool, W., Campbell, S., Fornasier, F., Calò, M., Silani, G., Cikara, M., & Cushman, F.A.. (2021). [Reasoning supports utilitarian resolutions to moral dilemmas across diverse measures](https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000281). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(2), 443–460. - \[2\] **Patil, I.**, & Tremolière, B.. (2021). [Reasoning supports forgiving accidental harms](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93908-z). Scientific Reports, 11:14418. - \[3\] **Patil, I.**. (2015). [Trait psychopathy and utilitarian moral judgment: The mediating role of action aversion](https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2015.1004334). Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 27(3), 349–366. - \[4\] **Patil, I.**, Cogoni, C., Zangrando, N., Chittaro, L., & Silani, G.. (2014). [Affective basis of judgment-behavior discrepancy in virtual experiences of moral dilemmas](https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2013.870091). Social Neuroscience, 9(1), 94–107. Find PDFs, supplementary materials, and data on the [Publications](/publications/) page. ### Empathy, Prosociality, and the Neural Basis of Moral Emotion Empathic concern for victims shapes blame and helping, with distinct neural signatures for each. Key findings - The pain-empathy network encodes outcome severity and drives blame, but contributes differently to acceptability judgements[\[3\]](#pub-1-3) - Grey matter volume in the left anterior STS, a theory-of-mind region, predicts willingness to forgive accidents; the previously emphasised temporo-parietal junction does not[\[4\]](#pub-1-4) - Costly personal sacrifices to rescue others in a virtual emergency are associated with a larger right anterior insula, a region central to empathic motivation[\[2\]](#pub-1-2) - Across 24 studies (21,000+ participants), compensating victims earned more reputational benefit than punishing perpetrators by signalling genuine prosocial character[\[1\]](#pub-1-1) fMRINeuroimagingProsocialityAltruismThird-party punishmentEmpathy Relevant Publications (4) - \[1\] Dhaliwal, N.A.\*, **Patil, I.**\* , & Cushman, F.A.. (2021). [Reputational and cooperative benefits of third-party compensation](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.01.003). Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 164, 27–51. - \[2\] **Patil, I.**, Zanon, M.\*, Novembre, G.\*, Zangrando, N., Chittaro, L., & Silani, G.. (2018). [Neuroanatomical basis of concern-based altruism in virtual environment](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.02.015). Neuropsychologia, 116, 34–43. - \[3\] **Patil, I.**, Calò, M., Fornasier, F., Cushman, F.\*, & Silani, G.\*. (2017). [The behavioral and neural basis of empathic blame](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05299-9). Scientific Reports, 7:5200. - \[4\] **Patil, I.**, Calò, M.\*, Fornasier, F.\*, Young, L., & Silani, G.. (2017). [Neuroanatomical correlates of forgiving unintentional harms](https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45967). Scientific Reports, 7:45967. Find PDFs, supplementary materials, and data on the [Publications](/publications/) page. ### Individual Differences: Personality, Psychopathology, and Moral Judgement Moral judgements vary with stable differences in emotional and cognitive processing. Key findings - Alexithymia (difficulty identifying one's emotions) reduces empathic concern and increases acceptance of harmful acts, especially unintentional ones[\[5\]](#pub-2-5)[\[6\]](#pub-2-6) - In autistic adults, autistic traits increase harm aversion while co-occurring alexithymia reduces empathic concern; opposing effects can mask differences in group averages[\[3\]](#pub-2-3) - People with multiple sclerosis judge others' violations more harshly than controls, explained by elevated cognitive alexithymia rather than disease-specific neurological changes[\[2\]](#pub-2-2) - People with anxiety disorders show intact moral judgement and report no heightened emotion during dilemmas, suggesting clinical arousal differs from the emotion shaping moral judgement[\[1\]](#pub-2-1) AlexithymiaPsychopathyAutismMultiple sclerosisAnxietyIndividual differences Relevant Publications (6) - \[1\] **Patil, I.**\* , Larsen, E.\*, Kichic, R., & Gleichgerrcht, E.. (2020). [Moral cognition about harm in anxiety disorders: The Importance of Experienced Emotion](https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120964134). Psychological Reports, 124(6), 2501–2523. - \[2\] **Patil, I.**, Young, L., Sinay, V., & Gleichgerrcht, E.. (2017). [Elevated moral condemnation of third-party violations in multiple sclerosis patients](https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2016.1175380). Social Neuroscience, 12(3), 308–329. - \[3\] **Patil, I.**\* , Melsbach, J.\*, Hennig-Fast, K., & Silani, G.. (2016). [Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism](https://doi.org/10.1038/srep23637). Scientific Reports, 6:23637. - \[4\] **Patil, I.**. (2015). [Trait psychopathy and utilitarian moral judgment: The mediating role of action aversion](https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2015.1004334). Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 27(3), 349–366. - \[5\] **Patil, I.**, & Silani, G.. (2014). [Alexithymia increases moral acceptability of accidental harms](https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2014.929137). Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 26(5), 597–614. - \[6\] **Patil, I.**, & Silani, G.. (2014). [Reduced empathic concern leads to utilitarian moral judgments in trait alexithymia](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00501). Frontiers in Psychology, 5:501. Find PDFs, supplementary materials, and data on the [Publications](/publications/) page. Open tools ## Research Software The tools I built to answer my own research questions soon outgrew them. My open-source R and Python packages support statistical visualisation, analysis, and reporting, alongside developer tools for reliable research code. They are used across fields, from ecology to clinical trials. [Explore the open-source work](/experience/open-source/) Route · Trieste to Cambridge to Berlin ## Research Positions 2019 – 2021 Berlin, Germany ### Postdoctoral Researcher [Max Planck Institute for Human Development](https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en) Advisor: Iyad Rahwan 2017 – 2019 Cambridge, MA, USA ### Postdoctoral Researcher [Harvard University](https://www.harvard.edu/) Department of Psychology Advisor: Mina Cikara and Fiery Cushman 2016 Trieste, Italy ### Visiting Researcher [Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)](https://www.sissa.it/) Advisor: Giorgia Silani