Gain or non‐loss: The message matching effect of regulatory focus on moral judgements of other‐orientation lies |
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| Authors: | Song Wu Wei Cai Shenghua Jin |
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| Institution: | 1. College of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China;2. Research Centre of Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China;3. Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;4. School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China |
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| Abstract: | Previous studies found that individuals with promotion focus are more likely to be persuaded by messages framed in terms of gain‐related words; individuals with prevention focus are more likely to be persuaded by messages framed in terms of loss‐related words. This is known as the message matching effect of regulatory focus. The present study extended this effect into the field of moral judgement of other‐orientation lies. Two experiments were conducted, revealing that (a) individuals with promotion focus judged gain‐framed other‐orientation lies to be more moral, while individuals with prevention focus judged non‐loss‐framed other‐orientation lies to be more moral; and (b) the subjective processing fluency had a partial mediating role in the message matching effect. Theoretical implications and future research directions were discussed. |
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| Keywords: | Message‐matching effect Regulatory focus Moral judgement Other‐orientation lies |
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