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Perception of Animal Mind in the Relationship Between Morality and Violence Against Animals

Moral Status Versus Anthropomorphization

Bibliographic Data

ID2162396
AuthorsAgnieszka Potocka (0000-0002-3034-7879, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Poland, Warsaw, Poland), Maksymilian Bielecki (0000-0002-2881-4976, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Poland, Warsaw, Poland)
Year2023
Volume36
Issue5
Pages825-847
Publication date2023-09-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthrozoös (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0892-7936 • E-ISSN: 1753-0377
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08927936.2023.2200648
OpenAlexW4379794122
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited97

In our study, we examined how people behave when intuitive, innate morality provides contradictory solutions regarding acceptance of instrumental violence against animals. We investigated two mechanisms of mediation between moral intuitions and acceptance of instrumental violence against animals: one was perception of the experience dimension of animal mind, which enables people to establish animals' moral patient status and rights, and the other was perception of the agency dimension, the basis for anthropomorphization. To examine these topics, we conducted quasi-experimental (n = 533, 50% women) and correlational (n = 532, 91% women) studies. Participants completed on-line questionnaires measuring intuitive morality according to Moral Foundations Theory, acceptance of instrumental violence against animals, and perception of the experience and agency dimensions of animal mind. Regression and correlation analyses confirmed a contradiction in participants' moral foundations: individualizing foundations correlated negatively with acceptance of instrumental violence, whereas binding foundations correlated positively. Moreover, the moral foundations of Authority and Care were the main predictors. Mediation analysis with both dimensions of animal mind as mediators revealed that only perception of the experience dimension plays a mediatory role between moral foundations and acceptance of instrumental violence against animals. Thus, we interpret that when people have opposing moral intuitions, they regulate this contradiction only by establishing moral patient status via perception of the experience dimension of animal mind, not by anthropomorphization via perception of the agency dimension. This, in turn, facilitates people's acceptance of or disagreement with instrumental violence against animals. We argue that people do so to avoid moral ambivalence or dissonance, fear of moral judgment by others, or deterioration of social relationships. These findings add to our knowledge about the different functions of the perception of the experience and agency dimensions of animal mind

Agency (philosophy · Ambivalence · Contradiction · Epistemology · Mediation · Moral agency · Moral development · Moral disengagement · Morality · Perception · Sociology · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works5
Citations per year2,5
Citation span2024 - 2026 (3)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4
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