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Personality and moral judgment: Curious consequentialists and polite deontologists.
Luke D Smillie1, Milena Katic1, Simon M Laham1
1Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Journal of Personality
|October 7, 2020
Summary
Personality traits influence moral judgments. Intellect is linked to consequentialist decisions, while politeness is associated with deontological choices, challenging emotion-based theories.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Moral Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Understanding the link between personality and moral judgment is crucial for explaining ethical decision-making.
- Existing theories propose connections between specific personality traits and different moral judgment styles, such as consequentialist and deontological.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between specific facets of the Big Five personality traits and inclinations toward consequentialist versus deontological moral judgments.
- To test whether cognitive traits are associated with consequentialist judgments and emotion-related traits with deontological judgments.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted with a total of 843 participants.
- The Big Five personality domains and their aspects were assessed in relation to participants' moral judgment preferences.
Main Results:
- A unique association was found between intellect (e.g., curiosity, cognitive engagement) and consequentialist moral judgments.
- A consistent unique association emerged between politeness (e.g., respectfulness, etiquette) and deontological moral judgments.
- No significant unique association was found between deontological judgments and compassion or other emotion-infused traits.
Conclusions:
- Intellect's link to consequentialism supports theories emphasizing deliberative cognitive processes.
- Politeness's link to deontology supports theories highlighting norm adherence.
- The findings challenge emotion-centered views of deontological moral judgment and highlight personality's role in ethical decision-making.
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