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Cole K. The Role of Moral Foundations in Support for Sex Work Decriminalization by Venue. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024; 61:1085-1098. [PMID: 38063493 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2291091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
The criminal status of prostitution has received greater attention from policymakers and advocates in recent years, but systematic policy change has yet to take root in the United States. These efforts have been both motivated and challenged by a strong moral discourse, resulting in policies that are more reflective of ideology than efficacy. While the popularization of sex work through online avenues like social media has altered the traditional concept of sex work, there is an incomplete understanding of public attitudes toward decriminalization in this modern market. Using national data from 519 U.S. adults, the present study applied Moral Foundations Theory to investigate support for sex work decriminalization in three venues (brothel, online, street). Overall, results show lower support for decriminalization of street sex work compared to brothel and online sex work, and that the effects of moral foundations on support for decriminalization are consistent across all venues. Individualizing foundations (i.e. harm, fairness) do not predict support for decriminalization, while binding and liberty foundations explain some variation in support. Implications of the findings speak to the potential barriers to criminal justice reform in this area and the role of moral arguments in this dispute.
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Grosfeld E, Scheepers D, Cuyvers A. Mapping the moral foundations of the European Union: Why a lack of moral diversity may undermine perceived EU legitimacy. PNAS NEXUS 2024; 3:pgae282. [PMID: 39183742 PMCID: PMC11342966 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 07/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024]
Abstract
The stability and effectiveness of supranational organizations, like the European Union (EU), will improve when citizens perceive them as legitimate. Across three studies, two of which were preregistered, and a preregistered pilot study, we combined EU legal expertise with social psychological theory on morality to understand how perceived EU legitimacy is influenced by a sense of moral alignment with the EU. We propose that, currently, the EU gives more weight to values linked to "individualizing" moral foundations (e.g. compassion, social justice, and equality) than to values linked to "binding" moral foundations (e.g. patriotism, religion, and traditionalism). As this may leave people who endorse binding moral foundations feel unrepresented, we investigated whether the EU could gain legitimacy by appealing to values that resonate with binding moral foundations. In study 1, text analyses revealed that the European Commission President's State of the Union speeches indeed appeal more to individualizing than to binding moral foundations. Study 2 (n = 595) provided correlational evidence that the negative relationship between binding moral foundations and perceived EU legitimacy was mediated by lower moral alignment with EU law. Finally, study 3 (n = 567) showed through an experiment that reframing or rebalancing EU law to better align it with binding moral foundations could increase perceived EU legitimacy among people who endorse these moral foundations. The results illustrate the importance of understanding and attending to moral diversity among EU citizens. More generally, our work shows how a collaboration between social psychology and law contributes to safeguarding the legitimacy of supranational organizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Grosfeld
- Europa Institute, Leiden University, Steenschuur 25, 2311 ES Leiden, The Netherlands
- Organizational Behavior, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Daan Scheepers
- Organizational Behavior, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Armin Cuyvers
- Europa Institute, Leiden University, Steenschuur 25, 2311 ES Leiden, The Netherlands
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Ahluwalia-McMeddes A, Moore A, Marr C, Kunders Z. Moral trade-offs reveal foundational representations that predict unique variance in political attitudes. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38979983 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) explains variation in moral judgements on the basis of multiple innate, intuitive foundations and has been subject to criticism over recent years. Prior research has tended to rely on explicit self-report in the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). In contrast, we seek to capture intuitive choices between foundations in a novel task - the Moral Foundations Conflict Task (MFCT). Across four studies, responses on this task reflect foundations measured by the MFQ (study 1), are not altered under cognitive load or reduced cognitive control (studies 2a and 2b); and explain unique variance in political orientation and related constructs (study 3). Furthermore, using responses and response times generated on the MFCT, we present a computationally explicit model of foundation-related intuitive judgements and show that these patterns are consistent with the theoretical claims of MFT. These findings show that the MFCT outperforms the MFQ and can contribute to the understanding of moral value conflicts, furthering debate on the nature of moral values.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adam Moore
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Calum Marr
- Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Zara Kunders
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Simić A, Sacchi S, Perugini M. When Future Leads to a Moral Present: Future Self-Relatedness Predicts Moral Judgments and Behavior in Everyday Life. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023:1461672231211128. [PMID: 38053500 DOI: 10.1177/01461672231211128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Future self-perceptions seem to promote far-sighted decisions in intertemporal choices. Previous work suggested that future self-relatedness, the extent to which we feel similar and connected to our future self, is associated with moral concerns. We aimed to extend these findings to everyday moral judgments and behavior using experience sampling methods. In addition, we assessed how moral foundation concerns mediate the relationship between future self-relatedness and moral behavior. Participants (N = 151) reported their state-levels of future self-relatedness, individualizing, and binding moral foundations and answered whether they performed a moral action five times a day for seven days. Within- and between-participants future self-relatedness predicted daily fluctuations in individualizing and binding moral foundations concerns. On the behavioral level, only within-participants future self-relatedness predicted individualizing moral actions with individualizing moral foundations mediating this effect. Our findings suggest that within- and between-person changes in future self-relatedness might be used to predict everyday moral concerns and behavior.
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Sobkowicz P. Social Depolarization and Diversity of Opinions-Unified ABM Framework. ENTROPY (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 25:e25040568. [PMID: 37190355 PMCID: PMC10137433 DOI: 10.3390/e25040568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Most sociophysics opinion dynamics simulations assume that contacts between agents lead to greater similarity of opinions, and that there is a tendency for agents having similar opinions to group together. These mechanisms result, in many types of models, in significant polarization, understood as separation between groups of agents having conflicting opinions. The addition of inflexible agents (zealots) or mechanisms, which drive conflicting opinions even further apart, only exacerbates these polarizing processes. Using a universal mathematical framework, formulated in the language of utility functions, we present novel simulation results. They combine polarizing tendencies with mechanisms potentially favoring diverse, non-polarized environments. The simulations are aimed at answering the following question: How can non-polarized systems exist in stable configurations? The framework enables easy introduction, and study, of the effects of external "pro-diversity", and its contribution to the utility function. Specific examples presented in this paper include an extension of the classic square geometry Ising-like model, in which agents modify their opinions, and a dynamic scale-free network system with two different mechanisms promoting local diversity, where agents modify the structure of the connecting network while keeping their opinions stable. Despite the differences between these models, they show fundamental similarities in results in terms of the existence of low temperature, stable, locally and globally diverse states, i.e., states in which agents with differing opinions remain closely linked. While these results do not answer the socially relevant question of how to combat the growing polarization observed in many modern democratic societies, they open a path towards modeling polarization diminishing activities. These, in turn, could act as guidance for implementing actual depolarization social strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Sobkowicz
- Nomaten Centre of Excellence, National Centre for Nuclear Research, A Soltana 7, 05-400 Otwock, Poland
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Do environmental messages emphasising binding morals promote conservatives’ pro-environmentalism? A pre-registered replication. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN 2023. [DOI: 10.32872/spb.8557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Past studies indicated that environmental messages incorporating binding morals (i.e., loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, purity/degradation) were effective in reducing the negative association between political conservatism and pro-environmentalism. We conceptually replicated and extended this finding through open science practices. In a pilot study, we constructed three environmental messages incorporating each binding moral based on previous relevant studies, and confirmed their validity (96 U.S. adults, 50% women). We then investigated the independent effects of these binding moral messages on pro-environmentalism across the political spectrum (705 U.S. adults, 56.6% women). Contrasting with our expectations and previous findings, we found no evidence that these environmental messages emphasising distinct binding morals were more effective than a control environmental message in attenuating the political polarisation on conservation intentions and willingness to receive more information about environmental protection. Simply adding binding morals content in environmental messaging may not be useful in promoting conservatives’ pro-environmental engagement. We further discuss future research as well as the limitations of this research.
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Zaleskiewicz T, Gasiorowska A, Kuzminska A. Market mindset reduces endorsement of individualizing moral foundations, but not in liberals. JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.5964/jspp.8163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
People with a market mindset attend to ratios and rates, and allocate rewards adequately to costs but are less sensitive to feelings. In this project, we demonstrate that activating a market mindset also affects people’s acceptance of free-market principles and their endorsement of individualizing moral dimensions—care/harm and fairness/cheating. Experiment 1 documented that a market mindset positively impacted people’s endorsement of fair market ideology. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the salience of such a market mindset hampered the importance of individualizing moral dimensions. Importantly, we found that political orientation moderated the negative effect of a market mindset on the endorsement of individualizing moral foundations—this effect held for participants who declared moderate and conservative political orientations, but not for liberals.
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Card KG, Hepburn K. Social position and economic system justification in Canada: Implications for advancing health equity and social justice from an exploratory study of factors shaping economic system justification. Front Public Health 2022; 10:902374. [PMID: 36339181 PMCID: PMC9633253 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.902374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective Many socio-economic reforms that could reduce health disparities are not implemented because people justify existing systems and fear changes thereto. This study aimed to identify socio-demographic factors associated with system justifying beliefs to better understand how they are maintained in Canada. In doing so, we hypothesized that (1) systems justification is a default cognitive position, buttressed by the palliative benefits of system-justification, (2) lack of success in a given system generally motivates people to doubt the legitimacy of that system, and (3) system-justifying beliefs are rejected only when the costs of doing so are low enough and/or the benefits are high enough to outweigh the innate needs-fulfillment benefits of system-justification. Methods Testing these hypotheses, we recruited participants living in Canada, aged 16+, to complete an online survey after being recruited via paid social media advertisements. Multivariable regression models identified factors associated with Economic System Justification Scale (ESJS) scores. Explanatory variables included demographic measures of social position, self-rated health, and patterns of social inclusion. Results Among 2,619 participants, system-justifying beliefs were wide-spread, with the average level of support across ESJS scale items exceeding 50%. Lower ESJS scores were associated with worse health, more loneliness, and lower socioeconomic status. Despite the pattern that marginalization erodes system-justification, several historically marginalized characteristics (e.g., non-white ethnicity and non-binary gender) were associated with relatively high system-justification, compared to matching privileged characteristics (e.g., white ethnicity; masculine gender). Conclusion Supporting our hypotheses, we identify a general trend that social marginalization is associated with less system-justification. Those benefitting from the status quo (e.g., healthier, wealthier, less lonely) were more likely to hold system-justifying beliefs. However, some groups who are disadvantaged within the existing system reported higher system-justification-suggesting that system oppression may be a key moderator of the effect of social position on system justification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Gries
- Department of Economics, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany
| | - Veronika Müller
- School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C
| | - John T. Jost
- Departments of Psychology, Politics, & Data Science, New York University, New York, New York
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Morosoli JJ, Barlow FK, Colodro-Conde L, Medland SE. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Biological Essentialism, Heuristic Thinking, Need for Closure, and Conservative Values: Insights From a Survey and Twin Study. Behav Genet 2022; 52:170-183. [DOI: 10.1007/s10519-022-10101-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Richardson I, Conway P. Standing up or giving up? Moral foundations mediate political differences in evaluations of black lives matter and other protests. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Isaac Richardson
- Department of Psychology Florida State University 1107 W. Call St. Tallahassee Florida USA
| | - Paul Conway
- Department of Psychology University of Portsmouth King Henry Building, King Henry 1 Street Portsmouth PO1 2DY UK
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Guidetti M, Carraro L, Castelli L. Children's inequality aversion in intergroup contexts: The role of parents' social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism and moral foundations. PLoS One 2022; 16:e0261603. [PMID: 34972148 PMCID: PMC8719705 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Although children are overall sensitive to inequality and prefer fair allocation of resources, they also often display ingroup favouritism. Inquiring about the factors that can shape the tension between these two driving forces in children, we focused on the role of parents. Extending the limited literature in this field, the present work examined whether individual differences in 3-to 11-year-old White children’s (N = 154, 78 boys) evaluations of fair versus pro-ingroup behaviours in an intergroup context vary as a function of both mothers’ and fathers’ social dominance orientation (SDO), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and moral foundations. Parents completed a questionnaire. Children were presented with a scenario in which two ingroup members distributed candies to two other children, one White and one Black, either in an egalitarian way or displaying a clear ingroup favouritism. Afterwards, their attitudes towards the two ingroup members who had distributed the candies were assessed through both an Implicit Association Test and explicit questions. Although children displayed on average an explicit preference for the fair over the pro-ingroup target, this preference did not emerge at the implicit level. Most importantly, both children’s explicit and implicit attitudes were related to mothers’ SDO, indicating that at increasing level of mothers’ SDO children’s inequality aversion tended to drop. Overall, these results emphasize the relevance of mothers’ support for social hierarchy in relation to the way in which children balance the two competing drives of equality endorsement and pro-ingroup bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Guidetti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Luciana Carraro
- Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Luigi Castelli
- Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
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Zakharin M, Bates TC. Remapping the foundations of morality: Well-fitting structural model of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0258910. [PMID: 34679123 PMCID: PMC8535174 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Moral foundations theory posits five moral foundations, however 5-factor models provide poor fit to the data. Here, in five studies, each with large samples (total N = 11,496), we construct and replicate a well-fitting model of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). In study 1 (N = 2,271) we tested previously theorised models, confirming none provide adequate fit. We then developed a well-fitting model of the MFQ. In this model, the fairness/reciprocity and harm/care foundations were preserved intact. The binding foundations, however, divided into five, rather than the original three foundations. Purity/sanctity split into independent foundations of purity and sanctity. Similarly, Ingroup/loyalty divided into independent factors of loyalty to clan and loyalty to country. Authority/respect was re-focussed on hierarchy, losing one item to the new sanctity foundation and another into loyalty to country. In addition to these 7 foundations, higher-level factors of binding and individualizing were supported, along with a general/acquiescence factor. Finally, a "moral tilt" factor corresponding to coordinated left-leaning vs. right-leaning moral patterns was supported. We validated the model in four additional studies, testing replication of the 7-foundation model in data including from US, Australia, and China (total N = 9,225). The model replicated with good fit found in all four samples. These findings demonstrate the first well-fitting replicable model of the MFQ. They also highlight the importance of modelling measurement structure, and reveal important additional foundations, and structure (binding, individualizing, tilt) above the foundations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Zakharin
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Timothy C. Bates
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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