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With a clean conscience: cleanliness reduces the severity of moral judgments.


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Benton, Jennifer 
Harvey, Sophie 

Abstract

Theories of moral judgment have long emphasized reasoning and conscious thought while downplaying the role of intuitive and contextual influences. However, recent research has demonstrated that incidental feelings of disgust can influence moral judgments and make them more severe. This study involved two experiments demonstrating that the reverse effect can occur when the notion of physical purity is made salient, thus making moral judgments less severe. After having the cognitive concept of cleanliness activated (Experiment 1) or after physically cleansing themselves after experiencing disgust (Experiment 2), participants found certain moral actions to be less wrong than did participants who had not been exposed to a cleanliness manipulation. The findings support the idea that moral judgment can be driven by intuitive processes, rather than deliberate reasoning. One of those intuitions appears to be physical purity, because it has a strong connection to moral purity.

Description

Keywords

Adult, Analysis of Variance, Communication, Conscience, Cues, Emotions, Female, Humans, Intuition, Judgment, Male, Morals, Social Behavior, Social Perception, Students, United Kingdom, Young Adult

Journal Title

Psychol Sci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0956-7976
1467-9280

Volume Title

Publisher

SAGE Publications
Sponsorship
Economic and Social Research Council (RES-061-25-0119-A)