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Corral D, Rutchick AM. The effects of explicit reasoning on moral judgements. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2024; 77:828-845. [PMID: 37211652 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231179685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We report four experiments that investigate explicit reasoning and moral judgements. In each experiment, some subjects responded to the "footbridge" version of the trolley problem (which elicits stronger moral intuitions), whereas others responded to the "switch" version (which elicits weaker moral intuitions). Experiments 1-2 crossed the type of trolley problem with four reasoning conditions: control, counter-attitudinal, pro-attitudinal, and mixed reasoning (both types of reasoning). Experiments 3-4 examine whether moral judgements vary based on (a) when reasoners engage in counter-attitudinal reasoning, (b) when they make the moral judgement, and (c) by the type of moral dilemma. These two experiments comprised five conditions: control (judgement only), delay-only (2-minute wait then judgement), reasoning-only (reasoning then judgement), reasoning-delay (reasoning, then 2-minute delay, then judgement), and delayed-reasoning (2-minute delay, then reasoning, then judgement). These conditions were crossed with the type of trolley problem. We find that engaging in some form of counter-attitudinal reasoning led to less typical judgements (regardless of when it occurs), but this effect was mostly restricted to the switch version of the dilemma (and was strongest in the reasoning-delay conditions). Furthermore, neither pro-attitudinal reasoning nor delayed judgements on their own impacted subjects' judgements. Reasoners therefore seem open to modifying their moral judgements when they consider opposing perspectives but might be less likely to do so for dilemmas that elicit relatively strong moral intuitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Corral
- Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
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Just wrong? Or just WEIRD? Investigating the prevalence of moral dumbfounding in non-Western samples. Mem Cognit 2023:10.3758/s13421-022-01386-z. [PMID: 36650349 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-022-01386-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Moral dumbfounding occurs when people maintain a moral judgment even though they cannot provide a reason for this judgment. Dumbfounded responding may include admitting to not having reasons, or the use of unsupported declarations ("It's just wrong") as justification for a judgment. Published evidence for dumbfounding has drawn exclusively on samples of WEIRD backgrounds (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic), and it remains unclear to what extent the phenomenon is generalizable to other populations. Furthermore, the theoretical implications of moral dumbfounding have been disputed in recent years. In three studies we apply a standardized moral dumbfounding task, and show evidence for moral dumbfounding in a Chinese sample (Study 1, N = 165), an Indian sample (Study 2, N = 181), and a mixed sample primarily (but not exclusively) from North Africa and the Middle East (MENA region, Study 3, N = 264). These findings are consistent with a categorization theories of moral judgment.
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Patrick C. Evolution is the source, and the undoing, of natural law. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Kollareth D, Russell JA. When judging purity norm violations, the perpetrator's intention matters. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dolichan Kollareth
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Boston College Chestnut Hill USA
| | - James A. Russell
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Boston College Chestnut Hill USA
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Keshmirian A, Hemmatian B, Bahrami B, Deroy O, Cushman F. Diffusion of punishment in collective norm violations. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15318. [PMID: 36097011 PMCID: PMC9467972 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19156-x] [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: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
People assign less punishment to individuals who inflict harm collectively, compared to those who do so alone. We show that this arises from judgments of diminished individual causal responsibility in the collective cases. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 1002) assigned less punishment to individuals involved in collective actions leading to intentional and accidental deaths, but not failed attempts, emphasizing that harmful outcomes, but not malicious intentions, were necessary and sufficient for the diffusion of punishment. Experiments 2.a compared the diffusion of punishment for harmful actions with 'victimless' purity violations (e.g., eating a dead human's flesh as a group; N = 752). In victimless cases, where the question of causal responsibility for harm does not arise, diffusion of collective responsibility was greatly reduced-an outcome replicated in Experiment 2.b (N = 479). Together, the results are consistent with discounting in causal attribution as the underlying mechanism of reduction in proposed punishment for collective harmful actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Keshmirian
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. .,Graduate School for Neuroscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany. .,Faculty of Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany. .,Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Munich, Germany.
| | - Babak Hemmatian
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, USA
| | - Bahador Bahrami
- Faculty of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.,Department for Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK.,Centre for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ophelia Deroy
- Faculty of Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.,Munich Center for Neuroscience, Munich, Germany.,Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK
| | - Fiery Cushman
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
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Abstract
Observed variability and complexity of judgments of "right" and "wrong" cannot be readily accounted for within extant approaches to understanding moral judgment. In response to this challenge, we present a novel perspective on categorization in moral judgment. Moral judgment as categorization (MJAC) incorporates principles of category formation research while addressing key challenges of existing approaches to moral judgment. People develop skills in making context-relevant categorizations. They learn that various objects (events, behaviors, people, etc.) can be categorized as morally right or wrong. Repetition and rehearsal result in reliable, habitualized categorizations. According to this skill-formation account of moral categorization, the learning and the habitualization of the forming of moral categories occur within goal-directed activity that is sensitive to various contextual influences. By allowing for the complexity of moral judgments, MJAC offers greater explanatory power than existing approaches while also providing opportunities for a diverse range of new research questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cillian McHugh
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
- Social Psychology & Cognition Lab, University of Limerick (SOCOUL)
- Centre for Social Issues Research, University of Limerick
| | - Marek McGann
- Department of Psychology, Mary Immaculate College
| | - Eric R. Igou
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
- Social Psychology & Cognition Lab, University of Limerick (SOCOUL)
- Health Research Institute, University of Limerick
| | - Elaine L. Kinsella
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
- Centre for Social Issues Research, University of Limerick
- Health Research Institute, University of Limerick
- Research on Influence, Social Networks, & Ethics (RISE) Lab
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Abstract
Research on morality has increased rapidly over the past 10 years. At the center of this research are moral judgments-evaluative judgments that a perceiver makes in response to a moral norm violation. But there is substantial diversity in what has been called moral judgment. This article offers a framework that distinguishes, theoretically and empirically, four classes of moral judgment: evaluations, norm judgments, moral wrongness judgments, and blame judgments. These judgments differ in their typical objects, the information they process, their speed, and their social functions. The framework presented here organizes the extensive literature and provides fresh perspectives on measurement, the nature of moral intuitions, the status of moral dumbfounding, and the prospects of dual-process models of moral judgment. It also identifies omitted questions and sets the stage for a broader theory of moral judgment, which the coming decades may bring forth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertram F Malle
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA;
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McHugh C, McGann M, Igou ER, Kinsella EL. Reasons or rationalizations: The role of principles in the moral dumbfounding paradigm. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/bdm.2167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cillian McHugh
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Limerick Limerick Ireland
| | - Marek McGann
- Department of Psychology, Mary Immaculate CollegeUniversity of Limerick Limerick Ireland
| | - Eric R. Igou
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Limerick Limerick Ireland
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Schönegger P, Wagner J. The moral behavior of ethics professors: A replication-extension in German-speaking countries. PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2019.1587912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Johannes Wagner
- University of Graz, Department of Philosophy, Institute of Psychology
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