Dissertation

Do as I Do and as I Say : Social Influences on Moral Judgment

Alshaalan, Hessah

2022

Overview

The main goal of this PhD research was to investigate social influences on moral judgment and factors that might moderate these effects. Specifically, this research explored (1) whether adults conform with others' moral opinions; (2) whether there are domain differences in moral conformity; (3) whether culture and gender moderate the effects of social influences on moral judgment; (4) whether normative and informational influences affect moral conformity; and (5) how others' moral reasons affect individuals' own moral judgments. These questions were examined in four empirical studies. Chapter 2 reports on two studies that combined theories of moral judgment and social conformity. Chapter 3 reports on two studies investigating whether there are differences in UK and Kuwaiti adults when making ethical risky decisions and decisions in other risk domains (i.e., the health/safety, social, and recreational risk domains). The study reported in Chapter 4 investigated the role of normative and informational influences on moral conformity across five moral foundations (i.e., the harm, justice, ingroup, authority, and purity foundations). While the previous studies assessed whether simply being presented with others' opinions affected more judgment, the study reported in Chapter 5 investigated how others' moral reasons influenced individuals' moral judgments. Overall, the findings of this research show that others' opinions do influence adults' moral judgments across domains, cultures, genders and when different conformity tasks are used. Others' moral reasons and moral emotions, however, exert a weaker influence on individuals' moral judgments. Social influences, and particularly moral conformity, should be considered in further detail to strengthen theories of moral decision-making and moral intervention programmes.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Conformity