How prison shapes inmates' sense of agency and outcome processing

Prison is a common punishment, yet it hinders the successful reintegration of ex-inmates intosociety. This study investigates whether coercive and restrictive prison settings alter inmates’sense of agency (SoA) – the feeling of control over one’s voluntary actions – and the sensoryprocessing of action outcomes (outcome processing). Using behavioral andelectroencephalographical methods, we investigated the effects of different prison settings,each imposing distinct levels of coercion, on SoA and outcome processing in inmates,compared to free controls. Participants could inflict financial pain on a co-participant toincrease their gain, either freely or following the experimenter’s orders. Compared to controls,inmates exhibited reduced SoA when freely deciding their actions but exhibited greater SoAwhen obeying orders. Outcome processing was preserved in inmates in open prisons,suggesting that less coercive settings have a smaller impact. These findings offer insights intohow prison may disrupt cognitive processes associated with social behavior duringincarceration.