Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

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.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Cushman, F; Knobe, J; Sinnott-Armstrong, W

Published Date

  • July 2008

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 108 / 1

Start / End Page

  • 281 - 289

PubMed ID

  • 18377886

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-7838

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0010-0277

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.02.005

Language

  • eng