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Related Experiment Video

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Does modifying personal responsibility moderate the mental contamination effect?

Tinisha S Kennedy1, Laura M Simonds1

  • 1School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK.

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|July 5, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Imagining a non-consensual kiss induced mental contamination in men. Reducing personal responsibility for the imagined transgression lessened feelings of shame and the urge to cleanse, but not behavioral responses.

Keywords:
Mental contaminationMoralityPerpetratorsResponsibility

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Mental contamination is a psychological state of internal dirtiness.
  • It can be triggered by imagining moral transgressions without physical contact.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To experimentally induce mental contamination by imagining a non-consensual kiss.
  • To investigate if reducing personal responsibility moderates the mental contamination effect.

Main Methods:

  • Sixty male students imagined either a consensual or non-consensual kiss.
  • Personal responsibility was manipulated in non-consensual scenarios using social influence information.
  • Mental contamination was assessed via self-report and a behavioral index.

Main Results:

  • Mental contamination was successfully induced by imagining non-consensual kisses.
  • Reduced personal responsibility moderated self-reported shame, dirtiness, and urge to cleanse.
  • This moderation effect was not observed in the behavioral index.

Conclusions:

  • Imagined moral violations increase mental contamination indices.
  • Further research should explore responsibility modification's impact on shame, dirtiness, and cleansing urges.
  • Findings are limited to male university students; behavioral measures were proxies.