Deontological Guilt and Disgust Sensitivity Modulate Moral Behaviour

The Role of Childhood Experiences in the Development of Disgust Sensitivity: A Preliminary Study on Early Moral Memories

Objective

Disgust is a basic emotion evolved to safeguard our omnivorous species from contagion. Although the factors eliciting disgust typically involve concerns related to physical contamination, physical disgust responses are also prompted by moral transgressions, (i.e. cannibalism, pedophilia, betrayal). The link between the general propensity to experience disgust (i.e. "Disgust Sensitivity") and morality, in particular in the deontological domain, is supported by an increasing amount of data on clinical and non-clinical sample. Evolutionistic explanations of this link posit that disgust evolved to indicate the presence of a threat to the integrity of the individual not only in the physical domain but also in the social and moral domain.In addition to the evolutionary point of view, this link could also be better investigated in terms of individual development. To the best of our knowledge, literature is scarce regarding which early experiences are associated to high DS. Therefore, this study aims to explore the content of early memories associated with disgust. Based on the strict link between disgust and morality, we hypothesized an association between DS and early memories of moral criticism.

Method

60 non-clinical participants filled in measures of DS. They were then presented with an auditory disgust induction, after which they recalled early memories through the technique of the "affect bridge". 10 independent raters assessed the emotional content of the memories on visual-analogical scales.

Results

Results showed a positive association between disgust sensitivity and the propensity to experience deontological guilt. There was also a significant positive association between disgust sensitivity and moral memories, in particular relating to early experiences of being the object of contempt, moral criticism, anger, and of being held responsible.

Conclusions

These data directly support the centrality of early morally-loaded interpersonal experiences in the development of DS, confirming the link between disgust and morality also at the level of individual historical development.

Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour

The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.

Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour

The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.

Morality in the flesh: on the link between bodily self-consciousness, moral identity and (dis)honest behaviour

The sense of owning a body (ownership) and controlling its actions (agency) are two main pillars of bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Although studies suggest that BSC signals and morality may be associated, whether such association has a positive or negative direction remains unclear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two pre-registered, online studies, in which a total of 1309 participants completed BSC- and morality-related questionnaires and undertook a task where they could cheat for monetary gain. We found that participants with high sense of ownership displayed high moral identity, which supports the notion that ownership is used to associate the self with positive characteristics. Moreover, high agency was associated with increased moral identity when sense of power is high. Results regarding deception are less clear, and might relate to the impact of COVID-19. Our results concerning moral identity may inspire policies that rely on changes of corporeal awareness to contrast immorality.

Reduced ownership over a virtual body modulates dishonesty

Although studies suggest that even higher-order functions can be embodied, whether body awareness may bias moral decisions toward (dis)honesty remains underinvestigated. Here, we tested if the Sense of body Ownership (SoO) and the magnitude of monetary rewards influence the tendency to act immorally. Through a virtual body, participants played a card game in which they could lie to others to steal high or low amounts of money. To manipulate SoO, the virtual body was seen and controlled from a first-person perspective, with hands attached or detached, or from a third-person perspective. In third-person perspective, SoO was significantly reduced and more egoistic lies were produced in high reward conditions. Thus, SoO reduction and high monetary reward facilitate dishonest behavior, likely by separating the self from the dishonest actions performed through the disowned body. Because most future interactions will likely occur in a digital metaverse, our results may have crucial societal impact.