How power affects moral judgments
The role of intuitive thinking
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13919210 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mufan Zheng (0000-0001-5927-766X, Department of Psychology, Wuhan University, People's Republic of China, and Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom, corresponding author), Ana Guinote (0000-0002-4226-7833, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 19-30 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0301-2212 • E-ISSN: 1179-6391 |
| Publisher | Scientific Journal Publishers Limited (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2224/sbp.10968 |
| OpenAlex | W4220697557 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
Power affects how people think about moral issues, and has been found to elicit deontological moral judgments. We hypothesized that powerholders' propensity to rely on intuitive thinking would trigger deontological moral choices. In two studies, power was induced by role simulation tasks and participants then made a judgment on a moral dilemma that did not involve bodily harm. In Study 1 memory cognitive load was manipulated to induce an intuitive processing style, and in Study 2 deliberation was induced by asking participants to deliver strong arguments. Results of Study 1 show that high power led to deontological judgments regardless of cognitive load, and cognitive load enhanced deontological preferences among powerless individuals. In Study 2 we found that deliberation shifted the judgments of powerholders toward utilitarianism. These results extend prior findings and reinforce the links between power and deontology. The findings suggest that powerholders' preference for deontological moral judgments is driven by their reliance on intuitive thinking
Cognition · Cognitive Load · Cognitive psychology · Deliberation · Deontological ethics · Epistemology · Harm · Moral dilemma · Moral reasoning · Power (physics · Utilitarianism · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
A Dissociation Between Moral Judgments and Justifications
How Power Affects People
Who Shalt Not Kill? Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity, Executive Control, and Moral Judgment
The Neural Bases of Cognitive Conflict and Control in Moral Judgment
Beyond sacrificial harm
Power, Distress, and Compassion
Cognitive load selectively interferes with utilitarian moral judgment
Reflection and Reasoning in Moral Judgment
Power, approach, and inhibition.
An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral Judgment
Paradoxical Effects of Power on Moral Thinking
The Personal Sense of Power
Social power and recognition of emotional prosody
Simulating murder
The influence of decision time on sensitivity for consequences, moral norms, and preferences for inaction
Concrete and abstract ways to deontology
Controlling other people
Reasoning supports utilitarian resolutions to moral dilemmas across diverse measures
Causes and reasons in attribution theory
How power influences moral thinking
Establishing a causal chain
When subjective experiences matter
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |