People feel less guilt when downloading pirated content than when stealing a tangible object, according to a report from the Australian University of Monash. The researchers analyzed the brain of test subjects while they asked them to think about stealing either a tangible object or downloading illegal music or movies.
When the participants in the research thought about stealing a tangible object they felt more guilty than when thinking about illegally downloading a movie. According to the researchers that is because "people are processing the intangible and tangible objects very differently within their brains".
Another reason, according to the researchers is because, "evolutionarily, we have interacted more with physical goods – particularly in respect to ownership so that is why we are hardwired to respect these more compared to intangible items such as ideas or software".
The researchers also think their research explains why people typically feel less guilty about e.g. online bullying, illegal hacking, stealing ideas, digital espionage or mass surveillance.
