So Gross and Yet So Far Away: Psychological Distance Moderates the Effect of Disgust on Moral Judgment

Overview

Journal Soc Psychol Personal Sci

Publisher Sage Publications

Date 2018 Sep 29

PMID 30263088

Citations 4

Authors

Marius van Dijke

Gijs van Houwelingen

David De Cremer

Leander De Schutter

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

People morally evaluate norm violations that occur at various distances from the self (e.g., a corrupt politician vs. a cheating spouse). Yet, distance is rarely studied as a moderator of moral judgment processes. We focus on the influence of disgust on moral judgments, as evidence here has remained inconclusive. Based on feelings as information theory and the notion that disgust evolved as a pathogen avoidance mechanism, we argue that disgust influences moral judgment of psychologically distant (vs. near) norm violations. Studies 1 and 3 show that trait disgust sensitivity (but not trait anger and fear) more strongly predicts moral judgment of distant than near violations. Studies 2 and 4 show that incidental disgust affects moral judgment of distant (vs. near) violations and that the moderating role of distance is mediated by involvement of others (vs. the self) in the evaluator's conceptualization of the violation.

Citing Articles

Age and moral disgust: An experimental priming effects vignette study.

Corradi G, Aguilar P, Aguiar F, Olivera-La Rosa A PLoS One. 2024; 19(2):e0295039.

PMID: 38349927 PMC: 10863895. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295039.

Personal relevance affects the perceived immorality of politically-charged threats.

Dyer R, Herbst N, Hintz W, Williams K PLoS One. 2023; 18(12):e0296177.

PMID: 38157337 PMC: 10756535. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296177.

"Bed bugs live in dirty places"-How Using Live Animals in Teaching Contributes to Reducing Stigma, Disgust, Psychological Stigma, and Misinformation in Students.

Asshoff R, Heuckmann B, Ryl M, Reinhardt K CBE Life Sci Educ. 2022; 21(4):ar73.

PMID: 36194505 PMC: 9727609. DOI: 10.1187/cbe.22-03-0056.

Fear From Afar, Not So Risky After All: Distancing Moderates the Relationship Between Fear and Risk Taking.

Mayiwar L, Bjorklund F Front Psychol. 2021; 12:674059.

PMID: 34248771 PMC: 8267060. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674059.

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