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Hypnotic disgust makes moral judgments more severe.

Thalia Wheatley¹, Jonathan Haidt

¹National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. wheatley@nih.gov

Psychological Science

|September 27, 2005

Summary

Disgust flashes, induced by hypnosis, made moral judgments harsher. This suggests moral decisions are influenced by emotional intuitions.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Neuroscience
Moral Cognition

Background:

Moral judgments are complex cognitive processes.
The role of affect and emotion in moral decision-making is increasingly recognized.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether induced disgust can influence the severity of moral judgments.
To explore the link between affective responses and moral intuition.

Main Methods:

Utilized hypnosis to induce a posthypnotic suggestion for disgust.
Participants rated moral transgressions in vignettes with or without a disgust-eliciting word.

Main Results:

The presence of the disgust-inducing word led to more severe moral judgments.
Induced disgust significantly impacted the evaluation of moral transgressions.

Conclusions:

Affectively laden moral intuitions play a role in shaping moral judgments.
Disgust can be experimentally manipulated to affect moral evaluations.

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