DANCEST 805 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Impression Management, Behaviorism, Internalization
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Task 7 - Gut-wrenching
Learning goals:
1. How do we decide what is morally wrong/right?
2. Biases in morality?
3. How does culture influence morality?
4. How can morality be influenced?
5. How does morality influence our decision-making?
1. How do we decide what is morally wrong/right?
2. Biases in morality?
3. How does culture influence morality?
4. How can morality be influenced?
5. How does morality influence our decision-making?
videos
Boegershausen et al.: Moral identity
A social-cognitive perspective of moral identity
• Researchers have taken different approaches to examine role of the ‘moral self’ in moral functioning
Moral functioning: engaging in moral/prosocial behaviours (e.g. charitable giving) and refraining from
immoral/anti-social behaviours like mistreatment
a) Person-centred approach: emphasizing the stability of the moral self over time and how its influence on moral
outcomes shows cross-situational consistency
b) Situation-based approach: highlighting how contextual cues may overpower the moral self
• An integrative approach based on the principles of social-cognitive theory can reconcile these perspectives & explain
seemingly inconsistent findings in the literature
• Social-cognitive model:
o Core principle: situational cues (e.g. seeing USA flag) have the power to momentarily influence social
information processing by activating or deactivating certain knowledge structures (e.g., one’s national identity),
or schemas, in an individual’s working self-concept
o some schemas tend to be more readily available for such processing than others
the 2 facets of schemas account for both the:
a) intra-individual stability and coherence of an individual’s moral character
b) variability of moral behaviour across situations
• Moral identity: term used to refer to whether the moral self-schema is central to a person’s self-definition
• Aquino & Reed (A&R) conceptualise moral identity as a network of moral trait associations that collectively define a
person’s moral character
o more easily accessible in working memory for some persons than others → accounts for the stability of moral
identity as an individual difference
o Moral identity comprises two dimensions
1) Internalization: private aspects of self; captures the chronic accessibility of a person’s moral self-schema →
indicative of the chronic, subjective experience of having a moral identity
2) Symbolization: public aspects of self; captures the importance a person places on exhibiting a public moral
self as a way of affirming one’s morality
At least partly driven by impression management and/or self-verification motives
• Whether a moral outcome requires prescriptive (= committing good deeds) vs. proscriptive (= refraining from bad
deeds) self-regulation may partially explain which facet of moral identity is a more reliable predictor of moral
outcomes
• Research on moral identity using A&R’s model provides ample evidence of its predictive validity of moral outcomes;
internalization dimension appears to be a more reliable predictor than the symbolization dimension
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Prescriptive moral regulation
• Prescriptive moral regulation: performance of ‘good deeds’ that help others via lessening their suffering or improving
their welfare; incl. charitable giving and helping behaviours
o For prescriptive outcomes, it is immoral not to enact good deeds when one has the possibility to do so
• Findings:
o High moral identity internalizers feel a stronger sense of obligation to show moral concern about socially distant
others increases their giving of both time and money to out-groups, but not in-groups
o When facing a choice between different means of acting charitably, high internalizers tend to prefer giving time
to giving money, because of time’s greater self-expressive potential
o Unambiguous, strong, situational cues that make morality salient (e.g., recalling the Ten Commandments) are
particularly effective at motivating people low in moral identity internalization to act morally
o high (but not low) internalizers are particularly susceptible to threats to their moral self-regard posed by
situational factors or by their own prior unethical deeds
o High internalizers are more likely to engage in compensatory prescriptive moral as well as other forms of
behaviours aimed at reasserting their moral self-image
o High moral identity internalizers are also particularly sensitive to moral cues in environments where morality is
peripheral
o they can be more sceptical and critical when evaluating potential beneficiaries of their good deeds → are less
charitable when beneficiaries are responsible for the own plight
• Internalization primacy principle (IPP):
1. moral identity internalization has a stronger impact than symbolization on individuals’ reactions to cues in their
social environment when they contemplate engaging in prescriptive moral behaviours
Internalization rather than symbolization also shapes individual’s susceptibility to threats to their moral
credentials and their attentiveness to information about the beneficiaries of their good deeds
2. Moral identity symbolization is more likely to shape individuals’ reactions to situational cues (e.g., recognition)
when their moral identity internalization is low
− Finding that is inconsistent with the IPP: demonstrating that symbolization (rather than internalization) predicted
escalation of commitment to prosocial (but not selfish) initiatives
Proscriptive moral regulation
• Proscriptive moral regulation: focuses on inhibiting motivations to commit harmful or immoral acts
• Findings:
o Proscriptive behaviours are judged as morally unacceptable by the community at large
o Unambiguous cues that diminish the importance of moral concerns (e.g., financial-based incentives, an outcome-
based [vs. rule-based] ethical mindset) are particularly impactful for people high in moral identity internalization
These cues shift the attention of high internalizers away from morality to alternative logics that can justify the
engagement in unethical acts
o high internalizers may have greater moral resource stock to draw from to help restrain their selfish/unethical
desires even when their self-control is depleted
o they are less likely to commit unethical behaviours as reaction to observing others’ engagement in such
behaviours
o Inhibiting proscriptive moral behaviours seems to be more automatic for high internalizers
o because of their wider circle of moral regard, high internalizers are more likely to refrain from committing
antisocial and unfair acts against out-group and condemn others’ engagement in these acts
o Specific personality traits e.g. emotional intelligence, as well as momentary psychological experiences e.g.
feeling powerful, can magnify moral identity internalization’s role → inhibits selfish, unfair, or unethical acts
o Cues like power bring people’s moral dispositions to the forefront making high internalizers particularly likely to
recognize the moral implications of their actions on others
o high symbolizers might be more resistant to the influence of processing frames when evaluating unfair acts
toward others
moral identity symbolization tends to magnify retaliatory and punitive reactions to mistreatment by others
o reflecting about distant, abstract prosocial behaviour increased prosocial motivations (i.e., a consistency effect),
which seems to more closely resemble moral identity internalization
reflecting about recent moral behaviour (resembling symbolization) decreases prosocial intentions
• Internalization–symbolization equality principle (ISEP):
o In contrast to prescriptive moral behaviours the two dimensions of moral identity are equally important in
regulating individuals’ reactions to situational cues when faced with temptations to act immorally
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o Internalization seems to be important in its interaction with different elements of personality (e.g., emotional
intelligence) and relational cues (e.g., power)
o Symbolization is particularly relevant for reactive proscriptive moral behaviours (e.g., revenge, mistreatment)
that occur in response to perceived harm or mistreatment of the self by others
Summary and conclusion
• Suggestion: the IPP for prescriptive and the ISEP for proscriptive moral outcomes
• Situational cues may trigger some form of compensation between moral identity internalization and symbolization
Buchtel et al.: Immorality East and West: Are Immoral Behaviours Especially Harmful, or Especially Uncivilized?
IMMORALITY IN EASTER VS. WESTERN CULTURES
• Classic moral-conventional distinction (Turiel, 1983): issues of harm, fairness, and justice distinguish moral from non-
moral issues → moral judgment is universally based on perceptions of harm and suffering, justice, and fairness
has been challenged by the more pluralistic Moral Foundation, Three Ethics, and Relationship Regulation Theory
approaches: different cultural groups may hold a variety of moral concerns
• Moral Dyad proposal: the perception of harm and suffering may be a universal template for all moral judgments
• Research purpose: examining the lay concept of “immoral behaviour” in Chinese and Western cultures
Chinese morality places unusual emphasis on being civilized and cultured
• Research questions:
1) What behaviours do Chinese and Western laypeople call “immoral”?
2) Are the acts they call “immoral” characterized by their harmfulness, or by their incivility?
Chinese Morality: Being a Cultured Person
• China’s Confucian-influenced moral tradition is an important counterpart to the moral traditions of the West
• Westerners focus on “deontological” ethics: “moral obligations” are understood to be inescapable, fact-like
requirements for behaviour that can be generalized to other situations
• Confucianism is a form of “virtue ethics”: cultivation of good character is seen as the key source of moral behaviour
o through the practice of courteous behaviour toward others one can develop and refine one’s character
o “Ritual propriety”: one of the central features of Confucian ethics; ability to act with decorum and respect in a
variety of situations and social roles, describing everyday courtesy, etiquette, and good manners;
▪ it is commonly perceived as central to moral education
▪ specific decorous behaviour (e.g. bowing vs. shaking hands) changes depending on context; but, this variable
behaviour is, ideally, consistently appropriate and attentive, motivated by virtuous character
research on East Asian self-concept & personality expression found that Chinese & Japanese were less
consistent across social situations compared with North American participants
➔ Confucianism can thus be seen as a form of interpersonal duty-based, rather than rights-based, morality, with an
important caveat:
Rather than focusing on absolute & abstract obligations, it elaborates on the importance of a cultured, cultivated
character, attentive to the social requirements of the situation, as the guide of virtuous & appropriate behaviour
• Chinese law has historically separated morality from law → criminal law (& not morality) is seen as motivational tool
for deviants whose behaviour falls well beyond the bounds of civility and who are unmotivated by the desire for virtue
Virtuous character is thus shown in small daily actions rather than avoidance of serious crimes
➔ Chinese moral education has been effectively synonymous with Confucian moral education
Civility Versus Harm as Morally Relevant
• Chinese lay moral cognition may be closely tied to judgments of civility and politeness → Issues of harm, rights, and
freedom infringement may not be closely associated with lay Chinese “moral” considerations
Contrast to psychology theories of morality (→ thus, theories have been challenged to be Western biased)
Document Summary
A social-cognitive perspective of moral identity: researchers have taken different approaches to examine role of the moral self" in moral functioning. Internalization dimension appears to be a more reliable predictor than the symbolization dimension. Internalization primacy principle (ipp): moral identity internalization has a stronger impact than symbolization on individuals" reactions to cues in their social environment when they contemplate engaging in prescriptive moral behaviours. Finding that is inconsistent with the ipp: demonstrating that symbolization (rather than internalization) predicted escalation of commitment to prosocial (but not selfish) initiatives. Proscriptive moral regulation: proscriptive moral regulation: focuses on inhibiting motivations to commit harmful or immoral acts. Moral identity symbolization tends to magnify retaliatory and punitive reactions to mistreatment by others reflecting about distant, abstract prosocial behaviour increased prosocial motivations (i. e. , a consistency effect), which seems to more closely resemble moral identity internalization. Reflecting about recent moral behaviour (resembling symbolization) decreases prosocial intentions.
