Multiplicity of Emotions in Moral Judgment and Motivation

Moral Motivation as a Dynamic Developmental Process: Toward an Integrative Synthesis

“…As van Geert explained, an example of this notion is Siegler's () overlapping waves approach. Consistently with Siegler's approach, moral motivational strategies can be differentiated in a developmental hierarchy, while being used in multiplicity simultaneously (Kaplan et al, ; Kaplan & Tivnan, , , ). That is, strategies can be complementary, but they vary qualitatively along a dimension of developmental distance (van Geert, , p. 661).…”

“…A recent motivational reformulation of Kohlberg's developmental stages provide support for substantial intrapersonal variability and multiplicity. That is, individuals are likely to use developmental stage structures in multiplicity as motivating forces in the process of making judgments (Kaplan et al, ; Kaplan & Tivnan, , , ).…”

“…Thus, this motivation may operate in combination with significant concerns for the feelings and perceptions of the other person (Kohlberg's stage 3), concerns for social order (Kohlberg's stage 4) and the greatest good (Kohlberg's stage 5). There is evidence for such intrapersonal multiplicity in the operation of developmental structures, reconceptualized as soft‐assembly (contextually emerging) dynamic moral motivational structures (Kaplan et al, ; Kaplan & Tivnan, , , ). These motivational structures do not necessarily operate in the form of explicit reasoning.…”

Media Ethics Theorizing, Reoriented: A Shift in Focus for Individual-Level Analyses

“…This moral identity, or successful integration of issues of morality into the self, echoes the theories of moral identity developed by Blasi (), Lapsley (), Maslow (), and others. Moral motivation is well illustrated by Anne Colby and William Damon in their landmark study of moral exemplars, Some Do Care , and has been described as “a complex dynamic system within which moral judgment and action merge” (Kaplan & Tivnan, , p. 423). Moral Foundations Theory is another approach that suggests a deeper complexity in the shaping of ethical orientation than media ethics scholarship has acknowledged.…”

“…This is a new moral psychology instrument based on "dynamic systems" theory, which argues that our emotional responses and cognitive appraisals are "intertwined" in the formation of our moral judgments. It combines the moral-development methods of Lawrence Kohlberg with autonomy measures used in Self-Determination Theory (see Table 2), and by doing can help us better understand the "multiple motivational structures" that seem to drive people's moral judgments and behavior (Kaplan & Tivnan, 2014). The Moral Sense Test (MST).…”