Structure-seeking as a psychological antecedent of beliefs about morality.

Abstract

People differ in their beliefs about the objectivity of moral claims. We investigated a possible psychological antecedent that might be associated with people's beliefs about the objectivity of moral claims. More specifically, we examined the relationship between the endorsement of moral objectivism and one's need to see the world as structured, ordered, and predictable. By believing that the world comprises objective facts about morality, a simple, rigid, and unambiguous structure is imposed on the moral landscape that is invariant to the whims and preferences of any particular person or group. Our results suggest that those more in need of personal structure and order in their lives are indeed more likely to endorse moral objectivism. We discuss the implications of these results for psychological theories of control and structure-seeking, and for cooperation, prosociality, social orderliness, and social goal pursuit.

Memory and Counterfactual Simulations for Past Wrongdoings Foster Moral Learning and Improvement

“…Participants were ensured that their responses would not affect their payment or their eligibility for future studies. Only those participants who selected “5” were included in the analyses (see exclusions above; for other studies employing similar attention checks, see Stanley, Marsh, & Kay, 2020; Stanley, Yin, & Sinnott‐Armstrong, 2019). Participants then completed several demographics questions.…”

Asymmetry in belief revision

“…Only those participants who selected (5) were included in the analyses. This same self‐reported attention question has been used in published research (Stanley et al, 2019; Stanley, Henne, et al, 2020; Stanley, Marsh, & Kay, 2020). Upon completion, participants were monetarily compensated for their time.…”

“…People may be motivated to maintain certain social, political, and moral beliefs, even in the face of compelling countervailing arguments and evidence (Haidt, 2012;Kunda, 1990;Stanley, Henne, et al, 2020;Stanley, Marsh, & Kay, 2020;Taber et al, 2009; but see Swire-Thompson et al, 2020 for an alternate view).…”

“…Generally, people are more persuaded by sources that are perceived as trustworthy than sources perceived as untrustworthy (Eagly et al, 1978; Mills & Jellison, 1967; Pilditch et al, 2020; Priester & Petty, 1995; Swire & Ecker, 2018), and source trustworthiness influences the likelihood of belief revision (Guillory & Geraci, 2013; Pluviano et al, 2020; Wolf et al, 2012). Furthermore, prior beliefs and worldviews can play a powerful role in how new information is evaluated and incorporated into the knowledge base: People may be motivated to maintain certain social, political, and moral beliefs, even in the face of compelling countervailing arguments and evidence (Haidt, 2012; Kunda, 1990; Stanley, Henne, et al, 2020; Stanley, Marsh, & Kay, 2020; Taber et al, 2009; but see Swire‐Thompson et al, 2020 for an alternate view).…”

Who needs control? A cultural perspective on the process of compensatory control

“…For example, during periods of low personal control people have been shown to prefer more transactional, market relationships (inherently structured in nature) compared to less transactional, communal relationships (inherently less structured; Gąsiorowska & Zaleskiewicz, 2021). Measured and manipulated low personal control predicts increased support for gender and occupational stereotypes (Ma et al., 2019), as well as belief in moral objectivity (Stanley et al., 2020; Stanley & Kay, 2022).…”