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Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Cushman, F; Knobe, J; Sinnott-Armstrong, W
Published in: Cognition
July 2008

An extensive body of research suggests that the distinction between doing and allowing plays a critical role in shaping moral appraisals. Here, we report evidence from a pair of experiments suggesting that the converse is also true: moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments. Specifically, morally bad behavior is more likely to be construed as actively 'doing' than as passively 'allowing'. This finding adds to a growing list of folk concepts influenced by moral appraisal, including causation and intentional action. We therefore suggest that the present finding favors the view that moral appraisal plays a pervasive role in shaping diverse cognitive representations across multiple domains.

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Published In

Cognition

DOI

EISSN

1873-7838

ISSN

0010-0277

Publication Date

July 2008

Volume

108

Issue

1

Start / End Page

281 / 289

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Social Perception
  • Morals
  • Judgment
  • Humans
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Cognition
  • Attitude
  • 20 Language, Communication and Culture
  • 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
 

Citation

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Cushman, F., Knobe, J., & Sinnott-Armstrong, W. (2008). Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments. Cognition, 108(1), 281–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.02.005
Cushman, Fiery, Joshua Knobe, and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. “Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments.Cognition 108, no. 1 (July 2008): 281–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.02.005.
Cushman F, Knobe J, Sinnott-Armstrong W. Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments. Cognition. 2008 Jul;108(1):281–9.
Cushman, Fiery, et al. “Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments.Cognition, vol. 108, no. 1, July 2008, pp. 281–89. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.02.005.
Cushman F, Knobe J, Sinnott-Armstrong W. Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments. Cognition. 2008 Jul;108(1):281–289.
Journal cover image

Published In

Cognition

DOI

EISSN

1873-7838

ISSN

0010-0277

Publication Date

July 2008

Volume

108

Issue

1

Start / End Page

281 / 289

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Social Perception
  • Morals
  • Judgment
  • Humans
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Cognition
  • Attitude
  • 20 Language, Communication and Culture
  • 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences