Chapter 6 - Morality Flashcards

Flashcards on the social psychology of morality based on lecture notes.

Morality

An indicator of what is “right“ and “wrong“, how (not) to behave, and what is fair.

Judging an act as moral

To judge an act as moral, we reason as to whether a given act is immanently good or bad, whether it is universally seen as such, and whether it is sanctioned.

Moral capabilities in children

Kids around their fourth birthday will have acquired the basis of moral capabilities, similar to those of adults.

Morality according to Kohlberg

Higher order moral reasoning is primarily governed by the abstract justice/fairness principle, while resolving moral dilemmas

Care/harm

Virtues of kindness, gentleness, nurturance.

Fairness/Cheating

Virtues of justice and rights (in 2023 split into Equality and Proportionality).

Loyalty/Betrayal

Virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group.

Authority/Subversion

Virtues of leadership and followership, respect for traditions and authority figures.

Purity (Sanctity/Degradation)

Virtues of self-discipline, self-improvement, naturalness, and spirituality.

Social order and morality

Moral principles guarantee the maintenance of social order, where we depend on one another, observe and reciprocate the treatment we receive

Social anchoring of morality

Shared ideas and culturally defined values are identity-related, acquired via implicit learning of peer group norms and cultural socialization.

Shame

A negative evaluation of the global self.

Guilt

Negative evaluation of a specific behavior

Moral Judgments

Information about morality as more heavily weighing in determining overall impressions of others.

Moral Judgments

Evaluating morality of others.

Moral emotions

What we feel as we experience morally relevant issue.

Trolley problem

A thought experiment in ethics where an onlooker faces the choice to save five people in danger of being run over by a trolley, but only by diverting the trolley to a different track, where it kills one person.

Moral traits

Moral traits are other-profitable: goals of an acting person are beneficial vs. harmful to others.

Competence

Competence is self-profitable: directly rewards the person acting/having a given trait; others affected indirectly.

Dominance of morality hypothesis

Perception of others dominated by the concern with morality rather than competence-related information.