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This work explores a social-cognitive approach to understanding moral personality, emphasizing the role of schema activation and knowledge accessibility in shaping moral behavior. By integrating principles from moral psychology with social cognitive science, the authors highlight the importance of individual differences and developmental grounding in moral functioning. The conclusion discusses the potential for a richer, more productive research program that acknowledges the complexities and challenges inherent in studying moral character.
Journal of Research in Personality, 2006
Following Higgins, chronicity paradigm, we examined the eVects of chronically accessed moral constructs for prototypic moral character using two diVerent research paradigms, spontaneous trait inferencing and lexical decision. Study 1 presented target sentences in a deliberate or spontaneous processing condition. Recall was cued with either a dispositional or semantic cue. Moral chronics made more spontaneous trait inferences with dispositional cues than semantic cues. In Study 2, participants read stories about characters who did or did not help. Moral chronics were faster responding to probes reXecting negative evaluations of story characters who did not help when requested (e.g., "disloyal"). Findings support claims that the moral personality is usefully conceptualized in terms of the chronic accessibility of moral knowledge structures.
The Philosophy and Psychology of Character and Happiness , 2014
The language of moral virtue comes easily to most of us. When we think about the moral what comes to mind are certain dispositions to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason. We have in mind the possession of certain traits that conduce to living well the life that is good for one to live. To be honest, generous, fair-minded, compassionate, resolute in the service of justice, these and other virtues are the ambition that we have for ourselves and for our children. Indeed how to raise children of good moral character is a pressing concern of parents and educators alike. We hope children come to exhibit traits of character that are praiseworthy and reflect credibly on their formation as a person. Indeed, we would be disappointed if our children developed only a glancing acquaintance with the virtues. Traits and Paradigms Yet it is by no means clear how virtues are to be understood as psychological constructs, or how to understand their causal role in behavior. To say that virtues are traits that produce enduring dispositions to act in certain ways is to say something controversial, although this might come as a surprise to the lay reader. Indeed for many decades the language of traits, virtues and character got little traction within academic psychology, although for somewhat different reasons. The behaviorist paradigm was suspicious of the unobserved mentalist entities that traits seemed to imply, and drew attention instead to the reinforcing contingencies of environments as best explanations of behavior (Skinner, 1972). Hence the behaviorist paradigm gave priority of explanation to salient features of situations. The cognitive-developmental tradition, particularly in the form of Lawrence Kohlberg's moral stage theory, 1 also doubted the empirical reality of traits as predictors of behavior; and worried that the language of traits might give comfort to ethical relativists (insofar as the valuation of traits could depend upon community or cultural standards; Gibbs, 2013; Kohlberg, 1981). Traits also seemed to run afoul of the "moral law folk theory" 2 that has dominated Western reflection on moral matters since the Enlightenment, and is assumed by many of the major theories of moral psychology, including Kantian ethics (Johnson, 1993). This is the view that we are essentially dualistic in our nature, consisting of body and mind, the physical and spiritual that are in conflict, a belief that comes easily to most of us. According to Kantian ethics, reason formulates general laws 1 Kohlberg's theory proposed that individuals develop cognitively toward a deontological sense of moral judgment, moving through three levels (preconventional, conventional, postconventional) and five or six stages. Moral reasoning develops from active social life during the course of maturation. Neo-Kohlbergian research found that enriched social experience, especially Western higher education, contributes to the development of general postconventional moral reasoning (reasoning like a philosopher). 2 Moral law folk theory refers to the common perception that body and mind are separable entities.
Explorations in Moral Psychology, 2009
Explorations in Moral Psychology, 2009
Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 1998
Current directions in psychological science, 2010
Most of us have at one point speculated about why one individual grew up to be honest and fair while another became wicked and untrustworthy. In the current review, we present the case that new directions in the empirical study of moral personality development are needed. We set the stage for this future work by presenting six propositions that should serve as the foundation for future research in the field. We conclude by providing an example of how using a more integrative and inclusive framework for studying personality can readily incorporate these propositions.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1996
Barresi & Moore's account has at least two implications for moral psychology. First, it appears to provide support for cognitive theories of moral competence. Second, their claim that the development of social understanding depends upon domain-general changes in cognitive ability appears to oppose the idea that moral competence is under-pinned by a moral module.
The Philosophical Review, 2002
New Ideas in Psychology, 2014, 34, 1-11
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.
Journal of Research in Personality, 2009
Past research has suggested that people may form cognitive representations of concepts based on metaphoric dimensions. We report two studies that evaluate whether the moral personality is represented along two relevant metaphor dimensions: verticality and brightness. In addition, we sought support for an attentional bias towards immoral rather than moral traits. In Study 1, immoral personality traits were categorized slower when high in the visual field, consistent with expectations that people represent immorality as being low rather than high. In Study 2, only support for the immorality bias and not the brightness representation was found. Our results suggest evidence both that the moral personality is represented metaphorically, and for an adaptive attentional bias towards immoral traits.
1998
Based on the notion that morality-related (M) and competencerelated (C) traits constitute two basic and independent dimensions underlying person perception processes, we elicited positive and negative traits most typical for the two domains and asked different groups of students (total N = 204) to rate the traits for various characteristics. As predicted, M traits were rated as other-profitable and desirable in other people to a higher degree than C traits, which were rated as selfprofitable and desirable in the self to a higher extent than M ones. M traits were also seen as more controllable and important for impressions than C ones. When negative, M traits were regarded as harder to pretend but easier to hide, as well as more stable over time and situations than C ones.
Handbook of Moral and Character Education (2nd ed.) , 2014
Introduction: The cognitive and neuro-sciences have made great strides in uncovering the nature of human psychobiology in recent years. Moral educators have yet to make much of their findings. The three theories presented here capitalize on recent research that has implications for building moral personalities and cultivating morally-adept citizens (Lapsley & Narvaez, 2004b; Narvaez & Lapsley, 2009).1The Adaptive Ethical Expertise blends deliberative and intuitive development for ethical expertise development. The Integrative Ethical Education model is a step-by-step model intended for integration into academic instruction at all levels. Multi-Ethics Theory, a more comprehensive theory of moral development rooted in neurobiological processes, has implications for moral education as well. All three theories address the development of moral personhood.
New Ideas in Psychology, 2014
We offer a theory of moral expertise based on an updated version of the Thomistic concept of habitus. We maintain that mature moral control arises from internalized standards of belief married to corresponding actions; the result is moral expertise. Beliefs and actions (conceptualized as habitus) coalesce in a moral identity, which is then sustained by the beliefs and actions that comprise the habitus; what we do affects who we are and what we believe, just as what we believe guides what we do. In support of these claims, we examine recent research on moral judgment, moral identity, and moral emotions.
Two independent studies examined judgments of own vs. others sins and virtues (Study 1) as well as own vs. others holy failures and sinful successes (Study 2) . Comparison of actor's vs. observer's evaluations of free recalled event pertained to morality domain showed a negativity bias in observer's estimations. What's interesting participants were able to assess their own sin as severely as observers did in two conditions: no cognitive load and concentration on own sin (Study 1), and cognitive load with suppression of competent aspect of sinful success (Study 2). The findings are discussed within Wegner (1994), Baumeister and Vohs ego depletion theories and Garcia -Marques, Hamilton, Maddox (2002) TRAP model.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 030572499103188, 2010
Contemporary moral psychology and education overemphasise rationality and neglect moral virtues and personality that must be part of a comprehensive understanding of moral functioning. The purpose of this study was to delineate the perceived personality characteristics of moral exemplars using the template of the Five-Factor Model which represents the fundamental dimensions of personality, and to compare that trait description with those for related types of exemplars. Participants were 120 adults from across the lifespan (17± 91 years) who provided free-listing descriptions of moral, religious and spiritual exemplars, which were then analysed in terms of the ® ve personality factors. Results revealed meaningful differences in personality attributions across types of exemplars, and indicated that traits re¯ecting the Conscientiousness and Agreeableness factors were particularly salient for the moral exemplar. Discussion focuses on the value of a re-examination of moral character and virtue, and the need to integrate moral cognition and personality within a realistic model of moral functioning and education.
European Psychologist, 2005
A research program on the affective concomitants of information on morality (M) and competence (C) is reviewed. The program originated from the assumption that M and C are the most important categories of behavior construal and that both categories can be, and are, used in interpretation of the same behavioral acts. Whereas in the observer perspective (when interpreting the behavior of others) M is more relevant than C, in the actor perspective (when interpreting one's own behavior) C is more relevant than M. Based on these theses it was predicted and found that: (1) M-related acts of others (moral acts and transgressions) instigated stronger affective responses than C-related acts (successes and failures), (2) the opposite was true for the participant's own acts, (3) attitudes toward other persons were more strongly influenced by the M than C-related information, and (4) attitudes toward the self (self-esteem) were more strongly influenced by the C than M-related information. The findings were discussed in terms of M and C being differently relevant for social inclusion-exclusion processes.
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