Psychology Commons^™

Conceptions Of Heroic Leadership In Civil Society, Theresa A. Thorkildsen

Heroism Science

While nations face multiple disruptions to civil society, individuals in late adolescence and early adulthood are overlooked for heroic leadership opportunities in some cultures. An underestimation of individuals’ abilities is sometimes fostered by biological definitions of human development that align competence with physical changes in the brain (Blakemore, 2012). Prolonged exposure to such disregard can encourage individuals to restrict the information they notice, fostering distortion in the intentions that support leadership readiness (Pratkanis, 2007). Studies of individuals’ conceptions of how the world operates can improve leadership readiness if such evidence is used to verify that individuals notice essential information. Using …

Time-Travel And Theology: Morality, Society, And The Life Of Lucas Bishop, Justin Martin

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

The paper focuses on a rarely analyzed superhero within the X-Men universe: the time-traveling mutant and law enforcement officer Lucas Bishop. Through highlighting core narrative themes consistent throughout his various depictions in comics and animation through the lens of a constructivist approach to sociomoral development (Social Cognitive Domain Theory; SCDT), the author contends that the character’s complexity and multifaceted nature potentially has implications for understanding superheroes like Bishop as subjects worthy of scholarly and pedagogical inquiry. The narrative themes examined in support of this argument pertain to (1) how different dystopian social orders or arrangements potentially inform his morally relevant …

Ethical Decision-Making In Older Drivers During Critical Driving Situations: An Online Experiment, Amandeep Singh, Sarah Yahoodik, Yovela Murzello, Samuel Petkac, Yusuke Yamani, Siby Samuel

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study examined the impact of aging on ethical decision-making in simulated critical driving scenarios. 204 participants from North America, grouped into two age groups (18–30 years and 65 years and above), were asked to decide whether their simulated automated vehicle should stay in or change from the current lane in scenarios mimicking the Trolley Problem. Each participant viewed a video clip rendered by the driving simulator at Old Dominion University and pressed the space-bar if they decided to intervene in the control of the simulated automated vehicle in an online experiment. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to analyze …

"Well You Know...": Parents' Perceptions Of Morality In Aaa Youth Ice Hockey, Zachary Mccarver, Danielle Wong Vickland, Megan B. Stellino

The Qualitative Report

Parents’ involvement patterns serve as a catalyst to their children’s moral development (Bandura, 1991). Yet, sport culture may convolute parents’ authentic ability to socialize their children’s moral development within a compliant structure focused on performance excellence (Hughes & Coakley, 1991). The purpose of the current study was to examine how parents conceptualize morality while entrenched in a conformity-driven elite youth ice hockey environment. The following research question was explored: how do parents ascribe meaning to, and learn the behavioral representations of, moral and immoral behaviors in youth ice hockey? Parents’ (N = 8, M_age = 53.13) perspectives of …

The Effects Of Priming On Moral Judgement, Lilly E. Rogers, Anna Lee, Chris Toepher, Zali White

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Forming judgments and making decisions based on those judgments is an important and inescapable part of life. Moral decision-making often affects oneself and the people surrounding them. Previous literature has suggested that the act of making moral and ethical decisions can be separated and explained using various theoretical perspectives, two of the most prominent being utilitarianism and absolute deontology (Scott, 2012). Applying and categorizing decision-making into either of these categories has been shown and suggested to largely depend on the priming of a decision, with positive priming leading to more utilitarian decision-making (Broeders et al. 2011). It has further been …

Murder On The Vr Express: Studying The Impact Of Thought Experiments At A Distance In Virtual Reality, Andrew Kissel, Krzysztof J. Rechowicz, John B. Shull

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Hypothetical thought experiments allow researchers to gain insights into widespread moral intuitions and provide opportunities for individuals to explore their moral commitments. Previous thought experiment studies in virtual reality (VR) required participants to come to an on-site laboratory, which possibly restricted the study population, introduced an observer effect, and made internal reflection on the participants’ part more difficult. These shortcomings are particularly crucial today, as results from such studies are increasingly impacting the development of artificial intelligence systems, self-driving cars, and other technologies. This paper explores the viability of deploying thought experiments in commercially available in-home VR headsets. We conducted …

The Effects Of False Heartbeat Feedback On Moral Judgment, Scott Koenig

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research on human morality is at a crossroads, with one side claiming that moral judgment is the result of rational inference and the other side claiming that it is the result of emotion-laden intuition. This study investigated whether emotion drives moral judgment by manipulating a core component of the experience of emotion: physiological arousal. The sample consisted of 77 undergraduate students at Brooklyn College (57% women, 43% men; mean age = 20.1). One group of participants was led to believe their heart was beating quickly, and another group slowly, while they read and evaluated a series of text vignettes depicting …

Understanding Why Some Whistleblowers Are Venerated And Others Vilified, Christopher D. E. Atkinson, Eric D. Wesselmann, Daniel G. Lannin

Heroism Science

Whistleblowers are individuals who witness a moral infraction committed within their organization and report this infraction publicly to hold the group accountable. Whistleblowers often face ridicule, vilification, and exclusion both within their group and sometimes within broader society. Thus, whistleblowers put themselves at personal risk to adhere to their moral code and protect others; these criteria commonly classify someone as a hero. We argue diverse reactions to whistleblowers are influenced by numerous situational factors that influence perceptions of a whistleblower’s intentions as well as the expected consequences of their whistleblowing. Whether a whistleblower is viewed as a virtuous reformer (i.e., …

Religiousness And Risky Behaviors Mediated By Moral Attitudes, Benjamin Curth

Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is a lot of existing research on religiousness in adolescents and risky behaviors such as sex alcohol. However, one understudied aspect of it is why the connection. Very few studies have explored this area, and a mediation model may aid in that research. For this study, a sample size of 364 adolescents ages 14-18 were surveyed (M = 15.64). Some mediations models have been attempted which suggests that it should be successful. In this study, a mediation model is used to explore the relationship between religiousness and risky behaviors in adolescents mediated by conservative attitudes. After finding significant …

Perceptions Of Violations By Artificial And Human Actors Across Moral Foundations, Timothy Maninger, Daniel Burton Shank

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Artificial agents such as robots, chatbots, and artificial intelligence systems can be the perpetrators of a range of moral violations traditionally limited to human actors. This paper explores how people perceive the same moral violations differently for artificial agent and human perpetrators by addressing three research questions: How wrong are moral foundation violations by artificial agents compared to human perpetrators? Which moral foundations do artificial agents violate compared to human perpetrators? What leads to increased blame for moral foundation violations by artificial agents compared to human perpetrators? We adapt 18 human-perpetrated moral violation scenarios that differ by the moral foundation …

Perceptions Of Violations By Artificial And Human Actors Across Moral Foundations, Timothy Maninger, Daniel Burton Shank

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Artificial agents such as robots, chatbots, and artificial intelligence systems can be the perpetrators of a range of moral violations traditionally limited to human actors. This paper explores how people perceive the same moral violations differently for artificial agent and human perpetrators by addressing three research questions: How wrong are moral foundation violations by artificial agents compared to human perpetrators? Which moral foundations do artificial agents violate compared to human perpetrators? What leads to increased blame for moral foundation violations by artificial agents compared to human perpetrators? We adapt 18 human-perpetrated moral violation scenarios that differ by the moral foundation …

Why Aim Law Toward Human Survival, John William Draper

Librarian Scholarship at Penn Law

Our legal system is contributing to humanity’s demise by failing to take account of our species’ situation. For example, in some cases law works against life and supports interests such as liberty or profit maximization.

If we do not act, science tells us that humanity bears a significant (and growing) risk of catastrophic failure. The significant risk inherent in the status quo is unacceptable and requires a response. We must act. It is getting hotter. When we decide to act, we need to make the right choice.

There is no better choice. You and all your relatives have rights. The …

Leveraging Moral Foundations To Increase Covid-19 Vaccination, Cara Elizabeth Ray

Dissertations

Despite the vast majority of the eligible U.S. adult population being vaccinated against COVID-19, geographical clusters of unvaccinated individuals pose a substantial risk of outbreak. It is important to encourage as many individuals as possible to vaccinate against COVID-19 to reduce its spread and severity. Past research has identified endorsement of the purity and liberty moral foundations – intuitive domains of moral concern – as predictors of vaccine hesitancy and political conservatism, while conservatism is itself associated with vaccine hesitancy. Across two online surveys, I examined the effects of a message invoking the purity and liberty foundations as well as …

The Horned Dilemma: Toward A Moral Typology Of Psychopathology, William Rung

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

This dissertation conceptualizes the psychopathological implications of morality and moral reasoning. In the process several theoretical and practical concerns salient to the field of clinical psychology will be addressed. It is my contention that certain symptom presentations - depression, obsessive-compulsive, dissociative, and psychotic - may be conceptualized as disturbances in the self through the mechanism of dissociation, based upon fundamental incongruities between traditional moral values and human nature. I present this thesis, beginning with an introduction to its underlying premises and followed by an examination of the place and standing of morality within the field of psychology. The development of …

Morality And Identity: A New Framework, Adriana Seda

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Moral identity, moral personality, and moral emotion have all been suggested to influence moral behavior individually, however, the results have been mixed and contradictory. Furthermore, they have never been tested together to determine their relative contribution in predicting moral decision-making. An anonymous online survey was administered to undergraduate students (N = 432). Moral Reasoning was assessed by a series of six hypothetical moral dilemmas. Participants were asked which of two choices they would prefer, one being a more deontological choice, in other words, follow a principle such as “tell the truth”, and the other being a more utilitarian choice, …

The Psychology Of Hate: Moral Concerns Differentiate Hate From Dislike, Clara Pretus, Jennifer L. Ray, Yael Granot, William A. Cunningham, Jay J. Van Bavel

Psychology: Faculty Publications

We investigated whether any differences in the psychological conceptualization of hate and dislike were simply a matter of degree of negativity (i.e., hate falls on the end of the continuum of dislike) or also morality (i.e., hate is imbued with distinct moral components that distinguish it from dislike). In three lab studies in Canada and the United States, participants reported disliked and hated attitude objects and rated each on dimensions including valence, attitude strength, morality, and emotional content. Quantitative and qualitative measures revealed that hated attitude objects were more negative than disliked attitude objects and associated with moral beliefs and …

Exploring Individuals’ Views On The Malleability Of Their Moral Self-Concept, Steven Hertz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Drawing on work by Carol Dweck, Moral Self-Theory was conceptualized as describing lay views of the moral self-concept as either malleable (incrementalist view) or fixed (entity view) in order to better capture the goal-achievement aspect of morality. To this end, research into the areas of implicit theories of intelligence and personality were drawn upon to explore the possibility that lay views of morality could help inform our understanding of moral behaviour. Three studies were designed to: 1) examine individuals’ perceptions of their moral self-concept over time for evidence of change and assess participants’ opinions towards that change, as well as …

Autonomy And The Folk Concept Of Valid Consent, Joanna Demaree-Cotton, Roseanna Sommers

Law & Economics Working Papers

Consent governs innumerable everyday social interactions, including sex, medical exams, the use of property, and economic transactions. Yet little is known about how ordinary people reason about the validity of consent. Across the domains of sex, medicine, and police entry, Study 1 showed that when agents lack autonomous decision-making capacities, participants are less likely to view their consent as valid; however, failing to exercise this capacity and deciding in a nonautonomous way did not reduce consent judgments. Study 2 found that specific and concrete incapacities reduced judgments of valid consent, but failing to exercise these specific capacities did not, even …

Moral Circles And Mind Perception Shift Perceptions Of Effective Altruism, Kyle Fiore Law

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Across a re-analysis of an existing dataset (Study 1; N = 96) and a higher-powered new study (Study 2; N = 300), we reveal that moral valuation of environmentalism over humanitarianism predicts less favorable moral judgments of effective altruism (i.e., welfare-maximizing socially distant altruism directed at humans) that is performed at the exclusion of helping animals in need. Furthermore, this relationship is explained by tendencies in mind perception to dehumanize outgroup members and stigmatized humans, rather than tendencies to anthropomorphize animals (Study 2). These findings reveal that granular versus aggregate individual differences in moral circles and mind perception may be …

Empathy And Fairness In Nonhuman Primates: Evolutionary Bases Of Human Morality, Colt Halter

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Darwin offered an evolutionary perspective on the origins of human morality, suggesting that humans share a biological foundation with nonhuman primates. This paper reviews the current literature on moral and prosocial behaviors of nonhuman primates, specifically examining whether nonhuman primates exhibit behaviors that are typical of empathy and fairness. The literature documents that nonhuman primates exhibit empathetic behaviors regarding emotional contagion and sympathetic concern. There is also evidence that nonhuman primates have a sense of fairness, seen in their reciprocal behaviors and aversion to inequity. Taken together, this suggests that there are evolutionary roots of morality, lending empirical support to …

Spiritual And Moral Education Of The Growing Generation, Timur Sattarov, Akmaral A. Batayeva, Akbarhan Dauletali

The Light of Islam

The topic of the spiritual and cultural formation of the younger generation at all times has been the subject of close comprehension of philosophers, religious scholars, teachers, representatives of many ethnic groups who study it. Each ethnic group developed certain methods of education (training and upbringing) of young people, the formation of its spiritual and cultural appearance. Different cultures: eastern and western, have developed their models, standards of education, spiritual and cultural development, and upbringing, in which both universal and specific ethnonational aspects are present.

The article considers the problem of spiritual and moral education of the younger generation of …

Against Empathy Bias : The Moral Value Of Equitable Empathy, Zoe Fowler

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Empathy has long been considered central in living a moral life. However, mounting evidence has shown that empathy is often biased towards (i.e., felt more strongly for) close and similar others, igniting a debate over whether empathy is inherently morally flawed and should be abandoned in efforts to strive towards greater equity. This debate has focused on whether empathy limits the scope of our morality, with little consideration of whether it may be our moral beliefs limiting our empathy. Across two studies conducted on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (N= 604), we investigate moral judgments of biased and equitable feelings of empathy. …

Is Thinness Truly Next To Godliness?: Examining Moral Judgements Against Women With Larger Bodies In A Latter-Day Saint Population, Sydney Rasmussen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Weight stigma exists in many ways within our society, though how exactly it manifests in a religious context has not been well-researched. This study investigates the relationship between female body size and perceived morality among college-age Latter-day Saints. 260 Latter-day Saint BYU students between the ages of 18 and 30 were randomly assigned one of two surveys: one featuring the image of a larger-bodied woman and the other featuring the image of a smaller-bodied woman—both being similar in complexion and dress. The survey asked participants various questions regarding their assigned woman’s moral character, with items adapted from the Ethical Behavior …

A Tale Of Two Tweets: What Factors Predict Forgiveness Of Past Transgressions On Social Media?, Andrew Dawson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As more and more of our lives take place online, we are developing a very public and permanent record of our past views and actions. It is increasingly common for public figures to have their current image tarnished by their mistakes and transgressions in what is often the distant past. Although factors such as the passage of time and age of the actor are typically given consideration in moral judgement, they may be swept away by identity and politics when the transgressions are viewed along partisan lines. Three experiments (N = 2,018) found that judgements of a public figure …

Brain Complexity, Sentience And Welfare, Donald M. Broom

Animal Sentience

Neither sentience nor moral standing is confined to animals with large or human-like brains. Invertebrates deserve moral consideration. Definition of terms clarifies the relationship between sentience and welfare. All animals have welfare but humans give more protection to sentient animals. Humans should be less human-centred.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms As A Moderator Of Affective Reactions To Perceived Interpersonal Behaviors, Narayan B. Singh

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms often struggle with heightened sensitivity and arousal in response to perceived threats. Moreover, interpersonal dysfunction in GAD has become increasingly a focus of empirical investigation and treatment, given the possibility that responses to social interactions may contribute to GAD symptom maintenance. Laboratory studies and cross-sectional trait assessments of interpersonal problems comprise most of our understanding of interpersonal dysfunction in GAD. However, how GAD symptoms interact with perceived interpersonal threats to predict affective responses (increased arousal, lower valence) within daily life remains poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine …

The Time Course Of Moral Perception: An Erp Investigation Of The Moral Pop-Out Effect, Ana Gantman, Sayeed Devraj-Kizuk, Peter Mende-Siedlecki, Jay J. Van Bavel, Kyle E. Mathewson

Publications and Research

Humans are highly attuned to perceptual cues about their values. A growing body of evidence suggests that people selectively attend to moral stimuli. However, it is unknown whether morality is prioritized early in perception or much later in cognitive processing. We use a combination of behavioral methods and electroencephalography to investigate how early in perception moral words are prioritized relative to non-moral words. The behavioral data replicate previous research indicating that people are more likely to correctly identify moral than non-moral words in a modified lexical decision task. The electroencephalography data reveal that words are distinguished from non-words as early …

How Moral Foundations And Traditional Sex Ideologies Influence Attitudes On Bystander Intervention Among College Students, Bailey Lytle, Kyle Bizal, Haley Hansmeier, Taylor Brumbaugh, Joshua Magee, Julia Sullivan, Shaina Kumar, Sarah Gervais, David Dilillo

UCARE Research Products

Many researchers highlight the need for bystander prevention programs on college campuses to mitigate the risk of sexual assault among college students (Caver, 2013).

However, Hoxmeier, O’Connor, and McMahon (2020) found that college students often hold different attitudes towards bystander intervention based on adherence to traditional gender roles.

Other researchers have found that those who do intervene tend to be higher in moral values such as altruism and social responsibility (Moisuc, Brauer, Fonseca, Chaurand, & Greitemeyer, 2018).

To date, there is little known about the specific link between traditional sex roles and moral values as they relate to bystander attitudes, …

The Threat Of Virality: Digital Outrage Combats The Spread Of Opposing Ideas, Curtis Puryear

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The prevailing stage for conversations about politics and morality has shifted from private and face-to-face to public and digital. Moreover, the digital landscape itself changed considerably in the past decade. The era of static webpages has been replaced by dynamic social networks where ideas and reactions to events spread rapidly. With every comment we, or a political adversary makes, numbers quantifying social approval tick up or down. Instead of holding digitized versions of one-on-one conversations, we argue in front of audiences who throw digital “points” at and accelerate the spread of the winning side’s ideas. I argue this subjectively raises …

The Adaptive Functions Of Morality, Michael R. Apostol

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Morality is the principles that distinguish right from wrong. Humans maintain a moral self-image: the views, judgements, and actions that reflect a sense of right or wrong (Jordan, Leliveld, & Tenbrunsel, 2015). In order to study the impact of moral attitudes on behavior we must understand why certain moral beliefs persist, the function of morality, and why errors in moral judgement occur. With an evolutionary framework, studying the adaptive significance of morality may provide answers to these questions. Researchers have studied morality in nonhuman animals, the development of moral principles, cultural factors that influence ethical frameworks, how morality functions, and …