2026/3/3
Professor Chun-Chia Kung’s Latest Research Receives Extensive Media Coverage: Sustainable Behavioral Decision-Making Relies on Emotional and Moral Mechanisms
Professor Chun-Chia Kung of the Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, together with a research team from the Department of Economics, NCKU, published a study on the neural mechanisms underlying sustainable behaviour in Royal Society Open Science. The study has attracted considerable attention from Taiwanese media, and several outlets have since covered the findings through in-depth features and news reports, highlighting the study’s influence in the field of sustainable behaviour.
Research Highlights
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study examined the brain activation patterns of Taiwanese participants when evaluating sustainable behaviours, such as using eco-friendly tableware and taking public transportation. The main findings include:
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Lower activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region associated with value evaluation, suggesting that sustainable behaviours may not yet be strongly internalized as personal values.
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Significant activation in the insula and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), regions associated with emotion and moral reflection.
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Among the participants in this study, sustainable decision-making appeared to rely more on emotional and moral judgment than on purely value-based calculation.
Implications
This study deepens our understanding of the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying sustainable behaviour and offers useful implications for future sustainability education and public policy design. In particular, approaches that engage people through emotion, morality, and personal lived experience may be more effective in promoting the internalization and practice of sustainable values.
Research Article
The comparison of neural mechanisms underlying prospective versus retrospective thinking of sustainable behaviours
Original Article
Expert Commentary
Science Media Center Taiwan (SMC): Expert opinions on “Brain Research on Sustainable Behavior”