Ethical Decision-Making in Chilean University Students: Behavioral and Electroencephalographic Evidence from Professional Ethical Dilemmas

Abstract

Ethical decision-making in professional contexts requires integrating behavioral performance and neural processes, as it involves both deliberative and intuitive mechanisms. However, empirical evidence integrating these levels of analysis in professional ethics remains limited. To address this gap, this study examines the association between behavioral responses and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during ethical–professional decision-making in a sample of Chilean university students. Thirty-two participants completed a computerized task involving personal and impersonal ethical–professional dilemmas related to psychological practice, making binary decisions while reaction times were recorded. EEG data were acquired using an 8-channel OpenBCI Cyton system. Mean EEG amplitude (0–800 ms post-stimulus) was computed for frontal (Fp1, Fp2, F7, F8) and parietal (Cz, Pz, P3, P4) regions of interest. Behavioral outcomes showed that impersonal dilemmas elicited significantly longer reaction times than personal dilemmas, consistent with greater deliberative demands. Trial-level mixed-effects models revealed a systematic frontal–parietal dissociation, where longer decision durations were associated with increased frontal EEG activity and concurrent parietal suppression. These findings support a systematic behavioral–neural association during ethical–professional decision-making, characterized by a frontal–parietal dissociation that reflects the dynamic competition between deliberative and integrative processes. Prolonged responses to impersonal dilemmas indicate greater deliberative demand, requiring extended integration of abstract professional norms. The observed neural pattern extends dual-process accounts of moral cognition and has implications for the design of ethics education programs that cultivate both deliberative and context-sensitive reasoning skills.