Intuitive Probabilities and the Limitation of Moral Imagination

There is a vast literature that seeks to uncover features underlying moral judgment by eliciting reactions to hypothetical scenarios such as trolley problems. These thought experiments assume that participants accept the outcomes stipulated in the scenarios. Across seven studies (N = 968), we demonstrate that intuition overrides stipulated outcomes even when participants are explicitly told that an action will result in a particular outcome. Participants instead substitute their own estimates of the probability of outcomes for stipulated outcomes, and these probability estimates in turn influence moral judgments. Our findings demonstrate that intuitive likelihoods are one critical factor in moral judgment, one that is not suspended even in moral dilemmas that explicitly stipulate outcomes. Features thought to underlie moral reasoning, such as intention, may operate, in part, by affecting the intuitive likelihood of outcomes, and, problematically, moral differences between scenarios may be confounded with non‐moral intuitive probabilities.     

Interactions entre règles sociales de santé publique : étude des liens entre le port du masque et les règles routières en temps de crise sanitaire

IntroductionThe health crisis that France has experienced since the beginning of 2020 has justified the introduction of new health rules requiring changes in behaviour. The context of the implementation of these health rules, instituted very recently and for a limited period of time, raises the question of their perception and respect among the population.ObjectiveMobilising the social developmental psychology, the objective of this article is to explore inter-individual differences in the perception of these health rules measured through the wearing of masks. It aims also at studying the links between these perceptions with the experience of the health context and the perception of other legal public health rules, apprehended through some road safety rules.MethodThe questionnaire survey, carried out during the second confinement with a representative sample of 4999 people, made it possible to measure the experience of the health context, the internalisation of the rules and their justifications, the usefulness of the rules and the perception of the legal system.ResultsThe results show the links between internalisation, the type of arguments used to justify it for wearing a mask and for road rules respectively, as well as the links between internalisation and the perception of the legal system. They also show that women use moral and prudential arguments more to justify their internalisation of rules and that they have internalised the traffic rules (but not the wearing of masks) more than men.ConclusionThese results show that the perception of the rule of wearing a mask is more related to the general perception that individuals have of the legal system and other legal public health rules involving the relationship with others than to the context in which these rules were put in place.     

The effect of ethics and moral education on the levels of schadenfreude experienced by students

Schadenfreude has attracted attention in recent studies. Although the antecedents and consequences of schadenfreude have been investigated, how it can be prevented has not been explored. This article examines the effect of ethics and moral education on the levels of schadenfreude experienced by students. The nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group model, a quasi-experimental design, was used in this study. Both the experimental and control groups consisted of 55 students. Data were collected using two hypothetical scenarios (one academic vs. one social context). The results of this study revealed that ethics and moral education had a significant negative effect on schadenfreude. This study suggests that people's ethics and moral education is an important predictor of schadenfreude.     

Wrongness in different relationships: Relational context effects on moral judgment

ABSTRACT

Morality primarily serves social-relational functions. However, little research in moral psychology investigates how relational factors impact moral judgment, and a theoretically grounded approach to such investigations is lacking. We used Relational Models Theory and Moral Foundations Theory to explore how varying actor-victim relationships impacts judgment of different types of moral violations. Across three studies, using a diverse range of moral violations and varying the experimental design, relational context substantially influenced third-party judgment of moral violations, and typically independent of several factors strongly associated with moral judgment. Results lend novel but mixed support to Relationship Regulation Theory and provide some novel implications for Moral Foundations Theory. These studies highlight the importance of relational factors in moral psychology and provide guidelines for exploring how relational factors might shape moral judgment.     

Reflection and reasoning in moral judgment

While there is much evidence for the influence of automatic emotional responses on moral judgment, the roles of reflection and reasoning remain uncertain. In Experiment 1, we induced subjects to be more reflective by completing the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) prior to responding to moral dilemmas. This manipulation increased utilitarian responding, as individuals who reflected more on the CRT made more utilitarian judgments. A follow-up study suggested that trait reflectiveness is also associated with increased utilitarian judgment. In Experiment 2, subjects considered a scenario involving incest between consenting adult siblings, a scenario known for eliciting emotionally driven condemnation that resists reasoned persuasion. Here, we manipulated two factors related to moral reasoning: argument strength and deliberation time. These factors interacted in a manner consistent with moral reasoning: A strong argument defending the incestuous behavior was more persuasive than a weak argument, but only when increased deliberation time encouraged subjects to reflect.     

The triadic legitimacy model: Understanding support to disobedient groups

In a social-psychological perspective, many scholars have argued that disobedience plays a significant role in avoiding the degeneration of the authority into autocracy and in promoting social change. In particular, the tripolar model (minority-majority-population) proposed by Mugny (1982) emphasized the role of the population for the stability or the progress of every society. Authority may indeed preserve the status quo only on the grounds of its influence on a large population. Likewise, protesters may achieve social change only by influencing and involving a large part of the population in their struggles. In understanding why people decide to join a protest, the aim of this article is to integrate Kelman and Hamilton's (1989) analysis of legitimacy with the tripolar model on social influence. The model we propose – namely the triadic legitimacy model (TLM) – explains the dialectic between social stability and social change by considering both authority's and disobedient groups' legitimacies.     

Doing as they would do: How the perceived ethical preferences of third-party beneficiaries impact ethical decision-making

Although unethical behavior often benefits third-parties not directly complicit in the misconduct, not all beneficiaries welcome these ill-gotten benefits. We investigate whether actors consider the ethical preferences of potential beneficiaries or rely solely on their own ethical predispositions when making decisions that affect others. Three studies demonstrate that the perceived ethical preferences of these beneficiaries can substantially influence the likelihood that actors behave unethically on their behalves. These studies show that actors consider the ethical preferences of beneficiaries only when their own ethical disposition is outcome-based.     

Sweatshop labor is wrong unless the shoes are cute: Cognition can both help and hurt moral motivated reasoning

The present research investigated the dual role of cognition as either an enabler of moral reasoning or self-interested motivated reasoning for endorsing sweatshop labor. Experiment 1A showed motivated reasoning: participants were more likely to endorse the use of sweatshop labor when considering a Caribbean vacation with questionable labor practices for themselves than for their friends. Experiment 1B demonstrated that endorsement of sweatshop labor mediated the relationship between product desirability and purchase intention. Experiment 2 found that cognitive resources were recruited to enhance motivated reasoning regarding sweatshop labor, the latter of which was reduced under cognitive load. Experiments 3A and 3B found that when cognitive resources were specifically directed in a comparative joint evaluation, participants offered harsher views on the ethicality of a favored company, and were less influenced by motivated factors than when under separate evaluations.     

A Comparison of American and Nepalese Children's Concepts of Freedom of Choice and Social Constraint

Recent work has shown that preschool‐aged children and adults understand freedom of choice regardless of culture, but that adults across cultures differ in perceiving social obligations as constraints on action. To investigate the development of these cultural differences and universalities, we interviewed school‐aged children (4–11) in Nepal and the United States regarding beliefs about people's freedom of choice and constraint to follow preferences, perform impossible acts, and break social obligations. Children across cultures and ages universally endorsed the choice to follow preferences but not to perform impossible acts. Age and culture effects also emerged: Young children in both cultures viewed social obligations as constraints on action, but American children did so less as they aged. These findings suggest that while basic notions of free choice are universal, recognitions of social obligations as constraints on action may be culturally learned.     

Ethical and Legal Considerations in the Training of Mental Health Professionals

Summary

A discussion is provided regarding ethical and legal considerations that relate to the training of mental health professionals. A training program which emphasizes a proactive approach to identifying and resolving potential ethical and legal problems, and their close connection with clinical issues is described, as are the responsibilities of supervisors and supervisees in such a program. For illustrative purposes, a training vignette and a clinical vignette conclude the article.