Social class and moral judgment: a process dissociation perspective

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Moral Psychology
• Socioeconomic Status

Background:

• Previous research suggests socioeconomic status (SES) impacts moral judgment, with higher SES linked to utilitarianism.
• The mediating role of empathic concern in this relationship has been previously explored.
• Class-based differences in moral decision-making require further nuanced investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To independently measure utilitarian and deontological judgment inclinations across social classes.
• To re-examine class-based differences in moral judgment using process dissociation.
• To identify mediators, such as cognitive styles and empathic concern, for these class differences.

Main Methods:

• Employed the process dissociation technique to quantify utilitarian and deontological decision inclinations.
• Assessed participants' social class and potential mediating psychological factors.
• Analyzed the relationship between social class and moral judgment tendencies.

Main Results:

• Upper-class individuals exhibited a statistically significant, though small, inclination towards utilitarian judgments.
• Class-based differences were more pronounced in deontological judgments, with upper-class individuals showing less inclination.
• Cognitive styles, not empathic concern or moral identity, mediated class differences in utilitarian judgments.

Conclusions:

• Social class is associated with distinct moral judgment inclinations, particularly regarding deontology.
• Cognitive styles play a role in mediating the link between social class and utilitarian moral judgments.
• The mediators for deontological judgment differences related to social class remain to be identified.