Moral Principles and Social Judgements

Question 1

importance of moral character in impression formation

Answer 1

background: lots of research on the importance of warmth and competence

(smiley, gregarious, friendly, kind, trustworthy, honest)
(capable, skilled, intelligent, clever)
- we seek information about these traits
- this kind of trait information has important impacts on overall positive or negative impressions

Question 2

universal dimensions of social cognition: warmth and competence

Answer 2

• in encounters with conspecifics, social animals must determine whether the ‘other’ is friend or foe and whether it has the ability to enact those intentions

Question 3

warmth is a very broad category

Answer 3

• both have sociability and moral character or mix of both
• moral character matters most (especially when forming impressions about people who occupy roles that are highly relevant to our own outcomes e.g. housemates)

Question 4

effects of moral judgments on impression formation (trolley dilemma)

Answer 4

Consequentialist/utalitarian argument and deontological (highly principled/uncompromising)

Question 5

Consequentialist/utalitarian argument

Answer 5

“It’s better to save five lives rather than one.”

Question 6

Deontological (highly principled/uncompromising)

Answer 6

“Killing people is just wrong, even if it has good consequences.”

Question 7

Trust Game: Which of these people is perceived by other people to be more trustworthy?

Answer 7

Person B (Deontological argument)

Question 8

Trust Game outcome explained

Answer 8

• preference for Person B is partially explained by the fact that many participants themselves agreed with this uncompromising response
• BUT the perceived similarity doesn’t fully explain it
• people who agreed with Person A’s argument still prefer to play the Trust Game with Person B

Question 9

Positive impression of moral character

Answer 9

uncompromising moral judgement in this kind of situation -> a kind of useful social signal: “You can count on me to treat you right, no matter what” -> Positive impression of moral character (e.g., trustworthiness)

• not a friend that calculates a “trade-off” like Person A

Question 10

Monkey Experiment

Answer 10

• monkey who gets cucumber felt it was unfair for the other monkey to get grapes when they both did the same task

Question 11

Five core moral values (Moral Foundations Theory)

Answer 11

• care (be kind)
• fairness (equity)
• loyalty
• authority (obey authority figures)
• purity (conforming to local norms; deviance is bad)

Question 12

individualizing values

Answer 12

• care
• fairness
• right and wrong ways to treat others

Question 13

binding values

Answer 13

• loyalty
• authority
• purity
• conforming to group norms/loyalty to group
• help groups be more cohesive

Question 14

implications for political attitudes

Answer 14

• liberals more highly prioritize individualizing moral values
• conservatives more highly prioritize binding moral values

Question 15

Malleability across contexts

Answer 15

• stronger endorsement of binding moral values = harsher punishment for law-breakers, and with stronger prejudices against outgroups

Question 16

moral values can be malleable and depend upon the situation

Answer 16

• when people perceive threat, thy endorse more binding moral values
• implications for cross-cultural differences
  (high disease-y countries = more binding moral values)

Question 17

seasonal effects on people’s moral values

Answer 17

• up and down pattern in people’s binding values (bimodal (two peaks, two valleys))
• no consistent seasonal pattern in Americans’ endorsement of individuating moral values

Question 18

seasonal cycle in binding moral values in other countries?

Answer 18

• similar for Canada and Australia
• in the U.K., dip in mid-summer but not winter

Question 19

why the seasonal change?

Answer 19

maybe…
- greater anxiety in the spring and fall
- summer: weather + break
- winter: break + holidays