What Makes People Think That an Action is Morally Wrong?

According to Moral Foundations Theory, an action may be considered to be wrong because: it is harmful, it is unfair or unjust, it shows ... Skiptomaincontent Breadcrumb Home News CharacterContextBlog WhatMakesPeopleThinkThatanActionisMorallyWrong? WhatMakesPeopleThinkThatanActionisMorallyWrong? Oct8,2019 BYJaredPiazzaandPauloSousa Share Whatcriteriadopeopleusetodecidethatsomethingismorallywrong? Thisisafundamentalquestioninthepsychologyofmorality.Somepsychologistsbelievethatthereissingleanswertothisquestion—thatallmoralwrongdoingsshareasinglebasicproperty.Ifyouthinkthatallmoraljudgmentsarebasedonasinglecriterion,youareamoralmonist. Probablythemostcommonformofmoralmonismisharm-basedmonism.Harm-basedmoniststhinkthatpeopleseeactionsasmorallywrongwhentheycausesomeoneharm—inthesenseofcausingpainorsuffering.Hittingsomeoneisseenaswrongbecauseithurtstheperson.Infidelityisseenaswrongbecauseitcausesyourpartnerpain.Cheatingonyourtaxesisseenaswrongbecauseitmakesotherswhopaytaxessuffer. Differentfrommonists,moralpluralistsbelievethereisnotasingleanswertothequestionofwhatcriteriapeopleusetojudgesomethingasmorallywrong.Formoralpluralists,peopleconsideractionsasmorallywrongforavarietyofreasons,manyofwhichdonotinvolvecausingharm. ThemostprominentformofmoralpluralismisMoralFoundationsTheory.MoralFoundationsTheoryclaimsthatthereareatleastfiveindependentdomainsor‘foundations’thatmayleadpeopletothinkthatanactionismorallywrong.AccordingtoMoralFoundationsTheory,anactionmaybeconsideredtobewrongbecause:itisharmful,itisunfairorunjust,itshowsdisloyaltytoagroup,itisdisrespectfultoanauthority,oritisimpureorgross.Fromthepointofviewofmoralpluralism,thesefivefoundationsareimportantlydistinctandcannotbereducedtoafundamentalunderlyingproperty,suchasharm.Forexample,accordingtoMoralFoundationsTheory,peoplethinkthatconsensualincestbetweensiblingsismorallywrongbecauseitisimpureorgross,independentofwhethertheythinkitalsocausesharm. Wewereinterestedinthisdebatebetweenmoralmonismandpluralismbecausewehadreasonstothinkthattheharm-basedversionofmoralmonismisincorrect. Thatis,wedidn’tthinkthatallmoraljudgmentsarebasedonharm.Foronething,thereareplentyofharmfulactsthatmanypeopleapproveofbecausetheyhavesomekindofbenefit.Militaryinterrogations,harmfulexperimentsonanimals,andpunishingoffendersallcauseharm,butmanypeopleapproveofthem.Thus,harm,inthesenseofcausingotherspainorsuffering,cannotbefundamentaltojudgmentsofwrongdoing. Basedonourpastresearch,wethoughtthatthenotionofinjusticemaybeabetterfoundationformoralitythanthenotionofharm.Ourdeflationaryviewofharmproposesthatpeoplejudgeharmfulactsthatinvolveinjusticeasmorallywrong.Forexample,hittingsomeoneisconsideredwrongwhenitisseenasunjust,butitwouldnotbeconsideredwrongifyouhitsomeoneinself-defense. Wealsothoughtthatselfishnessiscentraltopeople’sconceptofinjustice.Whenpeoplethinkofinjustice,theyhaveinmindaselfishactionthatdoesnotconsidereveryone’sinterestsinasituation.Hitting,infidelity,andtaxevasionareseenasmorallywrongwhentheyinvolveinjusticethatarisesfromselfishness. Althoughwethoughtthatinjusticeisimportanttopeople’ssenseofwrongdoing,wealsohadreasontobelievethatmoralpluralismiscorrect—thoughnotnecessarilytheversionofferedbyMoralFoundationsTheory.Thisisbecausepeopleseemtoconsideractionsasmorallywrongforreasonsotherthanmereinjustice.Forexample,itisunlikelythatpeopleconsiderconsensualincesttobemorallywrongbecauseitinvolvesinjustice. Totestourideasaboutpeople’smoraljudgments,weconductedfourstudiesthatexaminedawiderangeofcriteriathatpeopleusetojudgewhetheranactioniswrong. Inourfirststudy,wehadresearchparticipantsthinkofactsofwrongdoingfromtheireverydaylives.Theythenratedhowwrongtheseactionswereandratedtheactionsontendimensions,whichcoveredratingsofinjustice(howunfair,unjust,dishonest,andselfishtheactionwas),harm(causingpainorreducingwell-being),disrespectforauthority,groupdisloyalty,andimpurity(thedegreetowhichtheactionwasgrossorimpure).Participantsreportedagreatdiversityofactsthattheyconsideredtobemorallywrong.But,crucially,wefoundthatratingsofinjusticedominatedpeople’smoralevaluationsofthesediverseacts.Ratingsofharmwerelessimportant. Insubsequentstudies,wepresentedparticipantsfromAmericaandGreeceadiversesetoftenwrongfulacts,whichtheyratedasinStudy1.ForbothAmericanandGreeksamples,injusticeratingshadthemostfar-reachingimpactonpeople’smoraljudgments.Interestingly,impurityratingsalsomadeanimportantcontribution.Althoughharmratingsmadeanimportantcontributiontojudgmentsofwrongnessforsomeacts,theiroverallcontributionwasminimal.Disrespectforauthoritycontributedalittle,moresoforGreekparticipantsthanforAmericans.Groupdisloyaltywasnotrelatedtoparticipants’judgmentsofwrongdoingmuchatall.Thefigurebelowvisuallyrepresentsinanapproximatemannertheoverallcontributionofeachofthefivecategoriestojudgmentsofwrongdoing. Ourfindingsindicateseveralthings.First,theideaofharm-basedmonismisclearlyincorrect.Second,perceptionsofinjusticecontributemoststronglytopeople’sjudgmentsofmoralwrongdoing. Thatsaid,ourfindingsaremoreinlinewithmoralpluralismthanmonism.Althoughinjusticeismostimportant,itwasnottheonlynotionguidingjudgmentsofwrongdoing. Lastly,althoughmoralpluralismseemscorrect,ourresultsdonotsupportthepicturesetoutbyMoralFoundationsTheory.Someofthefivefoundationsmadelittle,ifany,uniquecontributiontopeople’sjudgmentsofwrongdoing.Furthermore,thoughMoralFoundationsTheorydoesnotdenythispossibility,ourfindingshighlightthatpeoplecanviewthesameactioninmultipleways—forexample,asinvolvingharm,injustice,anddisrespecttoauthorityallatthesametime—andeachcansimultaneouslyfeedintoanoveralljudgmentthattheactwasmorallywrong. ForFurtherReading Piazza,J.,Sousa,P.,Rottman,J.,&Syropoulos,S.(2019).Whichappraisalsarefoundationaltomoraljudgment?Harm,injustice,andbeyond.SocialPsychologicalandPersonalityScience,10(7),903-913.   JaredPiazza isalecturerofpsychologyatLancasterUniversity.Hisresearchfocusesonthesocial-psychologicalfactorsinfluencingthewaypeopleapproachmoralissuesandthetreatmentofanimals. PauloSousa isadirectoroftheInstituteofCognitionandCultureatQueen’sUniversityBelfast.Hisresearchinterestsincludeagency,moralpsychology,andintergroupconflictaswellastheirrelationtoreligion. TAGS: Character&ContextBlog wrongdoing injustice harm morality Related News SeeAllNews DoesPowerCorrupt?HowPowerfulPeopleReactinMoralDilemmas Apr17,2019 BYAlexandraFleischmann Beinginapositionofpowercaninfluencemoraldecisions,butnotinthewayyouthink. Character&ContextBlog MediaPerspectivesat#SPSP2017 Jan12,2017 BYEmilyEsfahaniSmith Character&ContextBlog WhenNationalEventsMatterforPeople’sLives:The2016USPresidentialElection May10,2019 BYHeatherLench Forsomepeople,theoutcomeofthe2016electionhurttheirlivesevenmonthsafterward. Character&ContextBlog