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Paul J. Zak
Résumé
Paul J. Zak (born 9 February 1962) is an American neuroeconomist.
Zak graduated with degrees in mathematics and economics from San Diego State University before acquiring a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He is professor at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California. He has studied brain imaging, and was among the first to identify the role of oxytocin in mediating trusting behaviors between unacquainted humans. Zak directs the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University and is a member of the Neurology Department at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He edited Moral Markets: The Critical Role of Values in the Economy (Princeton University Press, 2008). His book, The Moral Molecule was published in 2012 by Dutton. The book summarizes his findings on oxytocin and discusses the role of oxytocin in human experiences and behaviors such as empathy, altruism, and morality.
Zak's research aims to challenge the thought that people generally are driven primarily to act for what they consider their self-interest, and asks how morality may modulate one's interpretation of what constitutes "self-interest" in one's own personal terms. Methodological questions have arisen in regards to Zak's work, however. Other commentators though have called his work "one of the most revealing experiments in the history of economics."
According to The Moral Molecule, Zak's father was an engineer and he takes an engineering approach to neuroscience, seeking to create predictive models of behavior.
His research and ideas have garnered some criticism, particularly from science writer Ed Yong, who points out that oxytocin administration boosts schadenfreude and envy. Oxytocin administration increases the salience of social cues, suggesting that priming effects in these experiments explain their findings. For example, Zak has shown that endogenous oxytocin release eliminates in-group bias indicating that the critiqued effects are due to supraphysiologic doses of oxytocin coupled with antisocial priming.
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