Temporal Stability of Moral Dilemma Judgments: A Longitudinal Analysis Using the CNI Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 014616722110350
Author(s):  
Dillon M. Luke ◽  
Bertram Gawronski

Although moral dilemma judgments are influenced by a variety of situational factors, there is evidence for considerable disagreement between individuals. Using the CNI model to disentangle (a) sensitivity to consequences, (b) sensitivity to moral norms, and (c) general preference for inaction versus action in responses to moral dilemmas, the current research examined the temporal stability of individual differences along the three dimensions. Across two time points 1 month apart, sensitivity to consequences ( r = .81) and sensitivity to norms ( r = .84) showed high levels of stability that were comparable to the Big Five personality traits; general preference for inaction versus action showed lower stability ( r = .41). Exploratory analyses revealed reliable associations between the three dimensions of moral dilemma judgments and three of the Big Five (extraversion, agreeableness, openness). Together, these findings provide evidence for stable individual differences in moral dilemma judgments that are related to basic personality traits.

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 1392-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Körner ◽  
Roland Deutsch ◽  
Bertram Gawronski

Typical moral dilemmas pitting the consequences of a given action against the action’s consistency with moral norms confound several determinants of moral judgments. Dissociating these determinants, the CNI model allows researchers to quantify sensitivity to consequences, sensitivity to norms, and general preference for inaction over action regardless of consequences and norms. However, with the currently available set of dilemmas for research using the CNI model, the model is not suitable for studies with individual-difference designs. To overcome this limitation, the current research investigated the suitability of an extended dilemma battery to make the CNI model amenable for individual-difference research, examining relations of its parameters with psychopathy, empathic concern, need for cognition, self-reported utilitarianism, behavioral activation/inhibition, moral identity, and religiosity. The results support the suitability of the CNI model for individual-difference research with the extended dilemma battery, providing more nuanced insights into the underpinnings of individual differences in moral dilemma judgments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Marengo ◽  
Kenneth L. Davis ◽  
Gökçe Özkarar Gradwohl ◽  
Christian Montag

AbstractThe Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) were constructed as a self-report assessment to measure individual differences in Jaak Panksepp’s cross-species primary emotional systems: SEEKING, PLAY, CARE (positive emotions) and FEAR, SADNESS, ANGER (negative emotions). Beginning with the first published work on the ANPS in 2003, individual differences on the ANPS measures of these six primary emotional systems have been consistently linked to Big Five personality traits. From a theoretical perspective, these primary emotional systems arising from subcortical regions, shed light on the nature of the Big Five personality traits from an evolutionary perspective, because each of these primary emotional systems represent a tool for survival endowing mammalian species with inherited behavioral programs to react appropriately to complex environments. The present work revisited 21 available samples where both ANPS and Big Five measures have been administered. Our meta-analytical analysis provides solid evidence that high SEEKING relates to high Openness to Experience, high PLAY to high Extraversion, high CARE/low ANGER to high Agreeableness and high FEAR/SADNESS/ANGER to high Neuroticism. This seems to be true regardless of the ANPS inventory chosen, although much more work is needed in this area. Associations between primary emotional systems and Conscientiousness were in the lower effect size area across all six primary emotions, thereby supporting the idea that Conscientiousness rather seems to be less directly related with the subcortical primary emotions and likely is the most cognitive/cortical personality construct out of the Big Five. In sum, the present work underlines the idea that individual differences in primary emotional systems represent evolutionarily ancient foundations of human personality, given their a) meaningful links to the prominent Big Five model and b) their origins lying in subcortical areas of the human brain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1013-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike Kroneisen ◽  
Daniel W. Heck

Research on moral decision making usually focuses on two ethical principles: the principle of utilitarianism (= morality of an action is determined by its consequences) and the principle of deontology (= morality of an action is valued according to the adherence to moral norms regardless of the consequences). Criticism on traditional moral dilemma research includes the reproach that consequences and norms are confounded in standard paradigms. As a remedy, a multinomial model (the CNI model) was developed to disentangle and measure sensitivity to consequences ( C), sensitivity to moral norms ( N), and general preference for inaction versus action ( I). In two studies, we examined the link of basic personality traits to moral judgments by fitting a hierarchical Bayesian version of the CNI model. As predicted, high Honesty–Humility was selectively associated with sensitivity for norms, whereas high Emotionality was selectively associated with sensitivity for consequences. However, Conscientiousness was not associated with a preference for inaction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014616722098799
Author(s):  
Dillon M. Luke ◽  
Bertram Gawronski

Many real-world dilemmas involve disagreement about whether decisions should follow moral norms in an unconditional manner ( deontology) or be based on the consequences for the greater good ( utilitarianism). To examine how political ideology may account for some of these disagreements, the current research used a formal modeling approach to investigate the associations between political ideology and (a) sensitivity to consequences, (b) sensitivity to moral norms, and (c) general preference for inaction versus action in responses to moral dilemmas. Across three studies ( N = 996) with samples from the United States (Studies 1 and 3) and the United Kingdom (Study 2), conservatives were less influenced by overall consequences for the greater good in comparison with liberals. Political ideology was not significantly associated with sensitivity to moral norms and general action tendencies. The findings provide more nuanced insights into how political ideology may contribute to disagreements on real-world moral dilemmas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110021
Author(s):  
Cristian Cabrera ◽  
Jorge-Manuel Dueñas ◽  
Sandra Cosi ◽  
Fabia Morales-Vives

Although research in recent years has revealed widespread discrimination against transgender people, few studies have addressed the attitudes of those who discriminate. In fact, although studies report that bullying is very common in adolescence, little is known about the attitudes of adolescents towards transgender people. This study aimed to determine the roles of social reputation, family socialisation, the big five personality traits and aggressiveness in transphobia and gender bashing among adolescents. The sample consisted of 479 students (50.1% boys) aged 14–19 (M = 15.04; SD = 1.06). The results revealed that transphobia and gender bashing were significantly related to the study variables. Specifically, the results showed that transphobia is largely predicted by variables of the type related to affect and personality, while gender bashing is largely related to variables of a social and reputational nature. Similarly, differences were found between genders, with boys having significantly higher scores than girls for transphobia and gender bashing, as well as specificity of predictors. The implications of these findings are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262110438
Author(s):  
Dillon M. Luke ◽  
Craig S. Neumann ◽  
Bertram Gawronski

A major question in clinical and moral psychology concerns the nature of the commonly presumed association between psychopathy and moral judgment. In the current preregistered study ( N = 443), we aimed to address this question by examining the relation between psychopathy and responses to moral dilemmas pitting consequences for the greater good against adherence to moral norms. To provide more nuanced insights, we measured four distinct facets of psychopathy and used the CNI model to quantify sensitivity to consequences ( C), sensitivity to moral norms ( N), and general preference for inaction over action ( I) in responses to moral dilemmas. Psychopathy was associated with a weaker sensitivity to moral norms, which showed unique links to the interpersonal and affective facets of psychopathy. Psychopathy did not show reliable associations with either sensitivity to consequences or general preference for inaction over action. Implications of these findings for clinical and moral psychology are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 672-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen Borghuis ◽  
Jaap J.A. Denissen ◽  
Klaas Sijtsma ◽  
Susan Branje ◽  
Wim H.J. Meeus ◽  
...  

Theory and research have suggested that recurrent daily experiences can affect personality traits. The present study examined the longitudinal relation between individual differences in positive daily experiences and the Big Five personality traits. Data came from Dutch mothers ( N = 483; M age = 44 years at T1) who completed up to six yearly personality questionnaires and 15 between–year assessment bursts, lasting five consecutive days each. Using multilevel structural equation modelling, we found that individual differences in daily experiences of positive affect and perceived relationship support/affection with partners and children were positively associated with subsequent rank–order changes in all Big Five personality traits. In contrast, we found little evidence that personality traits were associated with rank–order changes in daily experiences, which may be due to the very–high rank–order stability of positive affect and relationship support. Furthermore, positive daily experiences demonstrated incremental validity in predicting rank–order changes in trait agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness, over and above daily negative affect and relationship conflict. The results suggest that positive affective and interpersonal daily experiences contribute to positive personality trait changes in middle adulthood. We discuss these results in the context of contemporary theories of personality trait development. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huadong Yang ◽  
Chaoping Li ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
A. A. Jolijn Hendriks

Taking sides is one of the reactions available to third parties in handling a dispute. From the perspective of individual differences, this study was aimed at identifying lay third parties’ motives for side taking and exploring their relations with the Big Five personality traits. We tested our assumptions using three samples: A Dutch student sample ( n = 111), a Dutch employee sample ( n = 101) and a Chinese student sample ( n = 124). The findings revealed four types of side–taking motives: Moral, relational, reward–approaching and sanction–avoiding motives. The results also showed that individuals’ personality traits were relevant to the four types of side–taking motives: Agreeableness was associated with the relational motive for side taking, and intellectual autonomy was associated with the reward–approaching motive, the sanction–avoiding motive and the relational motive for side taking. Implications and explanations of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


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