Papers
2
Total Citations
29
H-Index
2
About
Lorenzo Di Angelis investigates the neural and psychological underpinnings of moral behavior, with a particular focus on how hierarchical structures influence responsibility and decision-making. His major contribution lies in illuminating the phenomenon of responsibility diffusion within chains of command—showing how individuals who simply relay orders, rather than directly issuing them, exhibit altered moral cognition and behavior. Using fMRI and behavioral experiments, Di Angelis has demonstrated that being a "simple intermediary" can disinhibit antisocial actions by reducing perceived personal accountability. His most-cited work (2022, 25 citations) provides compelling neuroimaging evidence that different roles in a hierarchy engage distinct brain mechanisms related to moral processing. This research has profound implications for understanding organizational ethics, military command structures, and legal responsibility. Di Angelis’s work bridges social psychology and cognitive neuroscience, offering empirical insight into why ordinary people may commit harmful acts when embedded in bureaucratic or authoritarian systems—a topic of enduring relevance for students and scholars of morality, power, and human behavior.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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