Mahdiyar Mokhlespour Esfahani, Alireza Moradi, Mehrdad Dadgostar, Nooshin Pourbaghi, Mostafa Khanzadi,
Volume 13, Issue 1 (Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 2025 2025)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the moral development of civil engineers using Kohlberg’s moral dilemma stories alongside simultaneous recording of brain activity. Thirty right-handed male engineers with at least three years of professional experience participated in the study. Hemodynamic activity was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) across three phases: story reading, question answering, and prioritization. Data were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U test. Results indicated that HbO2 levels in the right DLPFC and left VLPFC during story reading were significantly higher in engineers with higher moral judgment scores (p = 0.047 and p = 0.026). In the prioritization phase, Hb levels in the right VLPFC were significantly elevated in participants with lower moral scores (p = 0.015). These findings confirm the critical role of prefrontal regions in moral judgment processing, consistent with previous research. Although NIRS offers several advantages, its limited depth of measurement is a constraint. This study provides novel neurobiological evidence aligned with moral dilemma questionnaires, representing a step forward in predicting engineers’ moral development and enabling the use of brain data for artificial intelligence–based prediction. Future research is recommended to include female engineers, left-handed individuals, and broader brain regions.
