Moral judgment modulation by disgust is bi-directionally moderated by individual sensitivity

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Moral Philosophy

Background:

• Moral judgment theories incorporate conscious reasoning and unconscious emotional influences.
• Previous research shows conflicting results on disgust's modulation of moral decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of subliminal and conscious disgust priming on moral judgments.
• To explore how individual disgust sensitivity moderates the impact of disgust on moral decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Experiments used "trolley-car" scenarios to assess moral acceptability ratings.
• Subliminal and conscious disgust facial expressions were used as primes.
• Participants' sensitivity to disgust was measured.

Main Results:

• Subliminal disgust priming increased utilitarian judgments compared to neutral primes.
• The effect of disgust priming on moral judgments was modulated by individual disgust sensitivity.
• This bi-directional function was observed for both subliminal and conscious disgust stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Disgust priming reliably influences moral judgments in a bi-directional manner.
• Individual disgust sensitivity determines whether disgust primes lead to more utilitarian or deontological judgments.
• Findings reconcile conflicting reports by modeling the role of disgust sensitivity in moral decision-making.