|
1
|
Corradi G, Aguilar P, Aguiar F, Olivera-La Rosa A. Age and moral disgust: An experimental priming effects vignette study. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0295039. [PMID: 38349927 PMCID: PMC10863895 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Guido Corradi
- Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid, Spain
- BEATLES Research Group, University of Balearic Islands, Illes Balears, Spain
| | - Pilar Aguilar
- Department of Social Psychology, College of Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | | | - Antonio Olivera-La Rosa
- Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Universidad Católica Luis Amigó, Medellín, Colombia
- Human Evolution and Cognition Group, Associated Group to IFISC (University of the Balearic Islands – CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
|
2
|
Followers forever: Prior commitment predicts post-scandal support of a social media celebrity. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN 2022. [DOI: 10.32872/spb.8283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
When learning about wrongdoings of others, people are quick to condemn them and make negative inferences about their character. This tends to not be the case, however, when they hold strong positive feelings toward a transgressor, or consider this person to be part of their ingroup. We investigated the extent to which followers of a social media celebrity, Logan Paul, would still support him after a highly publicized scandal, thus exploring whether they would remain loyal given their prior commitment, or instead, feel especially betrayed and therefore revise their previously positive evaluation of him. Using Distributed Dictionary Representations on a large dataset of YouTube followers (N = 36,464) who commented both before and after the scandal, we found that the more often a person had publicly expressed their approval of the protagonist prior to the scandal, the stronger their post-scandal support was. Similarly, prior engagement was also associated with fewer negative moral emotions, and more positive emotions and attempts to defend the transgressor. Furthermore, compared to non-followers of the celebrity, followers were substantially more supportive of him after the scandal. Thus, highly committed fans failed to update existing moral character evaluations even in light of an extreme moral norm violation, a pattern that is consistent with attempts to reduce cognitive dissonance to maintain a positive evaluation of self and transgressor.
Collapse
|
|
3
|
Zmigrod L, Ebert T, Götz FM, Rentfrow PJ. The psychological and socio-political consequences of infectious diseases: Authoritarianism, governance, and nonzoonotic (human-to-human) infection transmission. JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.5964/jspp.7297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
What are the socio-political consequences of infectious diseases? Humans have evolved to avoid disease and infection, resulting in a set of psychological mechanisms that promote disease-avoidance, referred to as the behavioral immune system (BIS). One manifestation of the BIS is the cautious avoidance of unfamiliar, foreign, or potentially contaminating stimuli. Specifically, when disease infection risk is salient or prevalent, authoritarian attitudes can emerge that seek to avoid and reject foreign outgroups while favoring homogenous, familiar ingroups. In the largest study conducted on the topic to date (N > 240,000), elevated regional levels of infectious pathogens were related to more authoritarian attitudes on three geographical levels: across U.S. metropolitan regions, U.S. states, and cross-culturally across 47 countries. The link between pathogen prevalence and authoritarian psychological dispositions predicted conservative voting behavior in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and more authoritarian governance and state laws, in which one group of people imposes asymmetrical laws on others in a hierarchical structure. Furthermore, cross-cultural analysis illustrated that the relationship between infectious diseases and authoritarianism was pronounced for infectious diseases that can be acquired from other humans (nonzoonotic), and does not generalize to other infectious diseases that can only be acquired from non-human species (zoonotic diseases). At a time of heightened awareness of infectious diseases, the current findings are important reminders that public health and ecology can have ramifications for socio-political attitudes by shaping how citizens vote and are governed.
Collapse
|
|
4
|
Valtorta RR, Baldissarri C, Volpato C, Andrighetto L. Intergroup biologization and outgroup prejudice in the time of COVID-19. JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 52:37-50. [PMID: 34898719 PMCID: PMC8646705 DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Through two studies (N = 602) conducted in Italy between February and March 2020, we examined the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on biologization-a form of dehumanization that involves the perception of others as contagious entities-and outgroup prejudice. Overall, results showed that higher emergency perception was associated with greater biologization toward the groups most affected by the virus, namely the Chinese outgroup and the Italian ingroup. In turn, biologization toward the outgroup increased prejudice against that group. We also found that when the pandemic hit Italy, the greater emergency perception was associated with increased emotional closeness with Chinese people, resulting in reduced biologization and prejudice toward them. However, these results held true only for Italian respondents who reported higher levels of ingroup biologization. Taken together, our findings contribute to the knowledge gaps of biologization and prejudice by also providing relevant insights into the ongoing health emergency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Chiara Volpato
- Department of Psychology University of Milano-Bicocca Milano Italy
| | - Luca Andrighetto
- Department of Educational Sciences University of Genova Genova Italy
| |
Collapse
|
|
5
|
No Way, That's Gross! How Public Exposure Therapy Can Overcome Disgust Preventing Consumer Adoption of Sustainable Food Alternatives. Foods 2021; 10:foods10061380. [PMID: 34203678 PMCID: PMC8232179 DOI: 10.3390/foods10061380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Two prominently discussed sustainable food alternatives—lab-meat and edible insects—elicit disgust among consumers, thereby preventing acceptance. While providing prospective consumers with more information on, for instance, the environmental benefits of lab-meat has shown some success in increasing consumer acceptance, we argue that the disgust response—the main barrier to the societal acceptance of these foods—is not addressed. This is, we argue, because disgust is not the result of misperceptions (e.g., edible insects carry diseases) and thus unlikely to be overcome by information alone. Building on the latest insights into the social origins of disgust, this manuscript reviews an alternative strategy to foster the broader acceptance of sustainable food alternatives that currently elicit disgust. Specifically, we explain why and how public exposure could be a promising avenue for marketers to reduce consumers’ disgust response and thus increase the acceptance of sustainable food alternatives.
Collapse
|
|
6
|
Henderson RK, Schnall S. Disease and Disapproval: COVID-19 Concern is Related to Greater Moral Condemnation. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 19:14747049211021524. [PMID: 34112018 PMCID: PMC10358411 DOI: 10.1177/14747049211021524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior research has indicated that disease threat and disgust are associated with harsher moral condemnation. We investigated the role of a specific, highly salient health concern, namely the spread of the coronavirus, and associated COVID-19 disease, on moral disapproval. We hypothesized that individuals who report greater subjective worry about COVID-19 would be more sensitive to moral transgressions. Across three studies (N = 913), conducted March-May 2020 as the pandemic started to unfold in the United States, we found that individuals who were worried about contracting the infectious disease made harsher moral judgments than those who were relatively less worried. This effect was not restricted to transgressions involving purity, but extended to transgressions involving harm, fairness, authority, and loyalty, and remained when controlling for political orientation. Furthermore, for Studies 1 and 2 the effect also was robust when taking into account the contamination subscale of the Disgust Scale-Revised. These findings add to the growing literature that concrete threats to health can play a role in abstract moral considerations, supporting the notion that judgments of wrongdoing are not based on rational thought alone.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Simone Schnall
- Department of Psychology, 2152University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
|
7
|
Gross values: Investigating the role of disgust in bioethics. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01609-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
AbstractWhat is the role of disgust in moral judgements? Previous research found that disgust increases the severity of judgments; but other more recent work has cast doubt on these findings. Here we investigate roles of induced and trait disgust on moral judgments of controversial biological and medical technologies – bioethics – an area rife with proto-typical disgust cues. Participants (N = 600) viewed disgusting, frightening, or neutral pictures, rated the moral acceptability of biotechnologies, and completed questionnaire measures of trait disgust. We found a small negative effect of induced disgust (but not fear) on the acceptability of ‘existing’ biotechnology, but not ‘future’, ‘agricultural’, or ‘termination’ biotechnologies. But this effect was too small to change pre-existing opinions and would not have survived a correction for multiple tests. Although trait disgust had mostly negative relationships with the moral acceptability of biotechnologies, it did not moderate the effect of observing disgusting photos on biotechnology judgments. The larger, more consistent effects for trait disgust suggest that either (a) measures of trait disgust and moral attitudes share a source of method variance or (b) incidental, visual manipulations are too weak to capture the true effect of disgust on moral judgments.
Collapse
|
|
8
|
Bocian K, Cichocka A, Wojciszke B. Moral tribalism: Moral judgments of actions supporting ingroup interests depend on collective narcissism. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
|
|
9
|
Cleansing and separation procedures reflect resource concerns. Behav Brain Sci 2021; 44:e22. [PMID: 33599583 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x20000631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
We propose that procedures of separation have two functions, namely first, to establish the integrity of individual parts, and second, to make previously joint entities discreet and therefore countable. This allows taking stock of available resources, including evaluating the use of individual objects, a process that is especially adaptive under conditions of threat of contagious disease and resource scarcity.
Collapse
|
|
10
|
Separation/connection procedures: From cleansing behavior to numerical cognition. Behav Brain Sci 2021; 44:e5. [PMID: 33599596 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x20000461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Lee and Schwarz (L&S) suggest that separation is the grounded procedure underlying cleansing effects in different psychological domains. Here, we interpret L&S's account from a hierarchical view of cognition that considers the influence of physical properties and sensorimotor constraints on mental representations. This approach allows theoretical integration and generalization of L&S's account to the domain of formal quantitative reasoning.
Collapse
|
|
11
|
Bartoș SE, Sophie Russell P, Hegarty P. Heroes against homophobia: does elevation uniquely block homophobia by inhibiting disgust? Cogn Emot 2020; 34:1123-1142. [PMID: 32052690 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2020.1726292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Homophobia has decreased in past decades, but gut-level disgust towards gay men lingers. It has been suggested that disgust can be reduced by inducing its proposed opposite emotion, elevation. Research suggests elevation might reduce homophobia, but only general elevation (not elevation evoked by gay people) and general attitudes (rather than disgust) have been studied. Nor has elevation's effect on homophobia been differentiated from effects of related emotions, such as admiration or surprise. We pretested a series of news stories featuring either a gay man or a man of unspecified sexuality that were intended to distinctly elicit elevation, admiration, or surprise. We pre-registered the prediction that an elevation-inducing story would reduce negative attitudes by reducing disgust. In Study 1 (N = 593), participants who read elevation-inducing stories did not express more positive attitudes or less disgust towards gay men than those who read stories inducing admiration or surprise. The admiration stories elicited similar or lower levels of disgust than the elevation stories. Study 2 (N = 588), replicated the findings of Study 1 with improved stimuli and measures. Both studies suggest that elevation may not uniquely reduce homophobia, as elevation and admiration have similar effects on this prejudice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian E Bartoș
- Division of Psychology, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | | | - Peter Hegarty
- Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| |
Collapse
|
|
12
|
Katzir M, Hoffmann M, Liberman N. Consequences of agreement versus disagreement on physical disgust: How do people perceive the cleanliness and morality of someone who expresses inappropriate disgust. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maayan Katzir
- School of Psychological Sciences Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
- University of Cologne Cologne Germany
| | - Matan Hoffmann
- School of Psychological Sciences Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| | - Nira Liberman
- School of Psychological Sciences Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| |
Collapse
|
|
13
|
Mok A, Chiu CY. Green Tea and Ham: Cultural Mixing Reminders Decrease Considerate Behavior. BASIC AND APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2019.1593169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
|
|
14
|
Gilchrist PT, Schnall S. The paradox of moral cleansing: When physical cleansing leads to increased contamination concerns. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2018; 61:38-44. [PMID: 29906689 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Moral threats, including threats to moral self-worth, have been associated with contamination concerns. Paradoxically, although self-cleansing provides temporary relief, it can worsen feelings of contamination. Self-affirmation might be an effective strategy, especially following obsessive type cognitions (e.g., responsibility beliefs) when moral threats are reactivated. METHODS In Experiment 1, participants recalled an immoral deed and then self-cleansed (using a hand-wipe), completed a control task, or self-affirmed. Contamination concerns were subsequently measured by a washing task. In Experiment 2, the same procedure was used but obsessive-type cognitions were activated by asking participants a series of questions about obsessive beliefs. RESULTS As expected, relative to the control condition, both self-affirmation and self-cleansing resulted in less subsequent repeated washing behaviour in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, when the immoral recall was followed by activation of obsessive-type cognitions, self-cleansing led to more guilt and repeated washing than self-affirmation and control. Rather than alleviating feelings of contamination, physical self-cleansing led to more contamination concerns and guilt when in the context of activated obsessive-type cognitions, possibly because it paradoxically makes (moral) cleanliness goals salient. LIMITATIONS Future research needs to test clinical populations, for whom contamination concerns are all the more central. CONCLUSIONS This research provides further evidence of the influence of moral threat in contamination concerns, and the limits of moral cleansing. Self-affirmation resulted in less contamination concerns under both a neutral condition and activated obsessive type cognitions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philippe T Gilchrist
- Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9BB, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
| | - Simone Schnall
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
|
15
|
Bocian K, Baryla W, Kulesza WM, Schnall S, Wojciszke B. The mere liking effect: Attitudinal influences on attributions of moral character. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2018.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
|
|
16
|
Abstract
For this Special Issue, I highlight the past and present importance of appraisal theory as well as the challenges to its status as a total theory of emotions from the other functions of emotions: associative learning, self-regulation and social communication. This theoretical view applies both to emotion research in general and the specific fields of my interest in the emotions of moral judgment and intergroup processes. Methodologically, developments in analyses of large and more naturally occurring data sets will give an opportunity to square psychology's structural models of discrete emotions with the more complicated reality that exists. Both for the field and for individual researchers picking up the study of emotions, my advice is to pay special attention to measures, their assumptions and their context.
Collapse
|
|
17
|
Olivera-La Rosa A. Wrong outside, wrong inside: A social functionalist approach to the uncanny feeling. NEW IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
|
|
18
|
Giner-Sorolla R, Kupfer T, Sabo J. What Makes Moral Disgust Special? An Integrative Functional Review. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.aesp.2017.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
|
|
19
|
Schaefer M. Morality and soap in engineers and social scientists: the Macbeth effect interacts with professions. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 83:1304-1310. [PMID: 29116437 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0937-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Accepted: 10/22/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Several studies demonstrate that physical cleansing is actually efficacious to cope with threatened morality, thus demonstrating that physical and moral purity are psychologically interwoven. This so-called Macbeth effect has been explained, for example, by the conceptual metaphor theory that suggests an embodiment of the moral purity metaphor. Recent research draws attention to individual differences when using conceptual metaphors. The present study shows that the moral purity link interacts with different professions. Engineering and social science students were asked to hand copy a text in which the protagonist behaved in an immoral way (or in a moral way, control condition). Subsequently, they had to rate cleansing and other products. Both groups of participants showed higher ratings for cleansing products when hand copying the unethical story, but this Macbeth effect was significantly stronger for the group of engineering students. The results demonstrate that the Macbeth effect interacts with individual differences of the chosen profession. The outcome is discussed in terms of recent theories on individual differences in disgust sensitivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Schaefer
- Medical School Berlin, Calandrellistr. 1-9, 12247, Berlin, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|