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Moral alchemy: How love changes norms.

Rachel W Magid1, Laura E Schulz1

  • 1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Cognition
|April 14, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Non-moral concerns can become moral through "moral alchemy," where caring for a loved one

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Moral Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Non-moral concerns can acquire moral significance within specific cultural contexts.
  • This transformation is termed 'moral alchemy'.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the psychological process of moral alchemy.
  • To explore how moral obligations of care influence the moral weight of concerns.

Main Methods:

  • The study involved two experiments.
  • Participants evaluated behaviors within and outside of caring relationships.

Main Results:

  • When a loved one's concern for a behavior exceeded one's own, participants inferred greater third-party disapproval.
  • Behaviors considered within a caring relationship were perceived as more morally important.
Keywords:
Ethics of careMoral learningRecursive valueUtility

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Conclusions:

  • Moral alchemy occurs because the obligation to care for loved ones leads to valuing their concerns.
  • This process imbues non-moral issues with moral weight, influencing moral judgments and perceptions of importance.