Jean Decety

Jean Decety is a leading scholar on the cognitive neuroscience of moral reasoning, social decision-making, empathy, justice motivation and prosocial behavior, as well as other topics related to how we feel, think and behave in social situations.

His work has led to new understandings of the socioemotional and neurobiological mechanisms underlying social cognition in children and adults, as well as forensic psychopaths. Decety’s research uses a multi-level analysis and interdisciplinary approach, including functional neuroimaging, psychology, and behavioral economics. He believes that to encourage human cooperation on a global level, naturally emerging prosocial values, which are further cultivated by parents and social institutions, are best balanced with a healthy dose of reasoning.

Jean Decety is a member of the Committee on Neurobiology. He is the co-founder of the Society for Social Neuroscience. He is the director of the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and the Child Neurosuite at the University of Chicago.