Psychology of Morality and Reasoning

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Questions and Answers

What metaphor is used to describe the relationship between morality and reasoning?

The dog and its tail (correct)

The horse and its saddle

The cat and its toy

The bird and its song

What term describes the phenomenon where people have strong moral feelings but struggle to articulate their reasoning?

Moral dumbfounding (correct)

Cognitive dissonance

Moral absolutism

Emotional reasoning

In cases of psychopathy, what aspect of morality is notably lacking?

Emotional response to others' suffering (correct)

Rationale behind behavior

Awareness of social norms

Understanding of moral values

How do explicit attitudes differ from implicit attitudes?

Explicit attitudes can be verbally reported. Signup and view all the answers

What does the Implicit Association Test (IAT) primarily assess?

Automatic associations between concepts Signup and view all the answers

Why might someone’s explicit and implicit attitudes conflict?

They hold unconscious beliefs that contradict their conscious thoughts. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes implicit attitudes?

They reflect subconscious biases and views. Signup and view all the answers

What main factor influences moral behavior according to the discussion?

Emotional capacity Signup and view all the answers

What factor is primarily responsible for the differences in heritability values observed between monozygotic and dizygotic twins?

Genetic makeup Signup and view all the answers

What percentage of religiosity is estimated to be influenced by genetic factors?

40% Signup and view all the answers

What moral practice was common during the 16th century regarding accusations of witchcraft?

Burning accused individuals at the stake Signup and view all the answers

How did societal views on pre-marital and extra-marital sex change over time?

Pre-marital sex has become more accepted, while extra-marital sex views remain unchanged. Signup and view all the answers

Which phenomenon is described as influencing people's judgments based on the thoughts and behaviors of others?

Social conforming Signup and view all the answers

What common game from the past reflected a troubling moral sense regarding animals?

Cat headbutting Signup and view all the answers

Which substance's historical usage has been referenced to illustrate shifting perceptions of drug use?

Cocaine Signup and view all the answers

What role do social standards play in shaping people's moral understanding?

They heavily influence moral judgments of good and bad. Signup and view all the answers

What describes the better than average effect?

People inflate their skills in comparison to others. Signup and view all the answers

What is optimistic bias primarily characterized by?

Overestimating good outcomes and underestimating negative outcomes. Signup and view all the answers

How are psychological tendencies shaped by evolution?

They enhance the ability to survive and reproduce. Signup and view all the answers

What is one reason humans may fear spiders despite not having direct experience with them?

Ancestral survival experiences have led to pre-programmed fears. Signup and view all the answers

Which statement is true regarding individuals born with a mutation that prevents fear in response to threats?

They may face lower survival rates due to inability to react to danger. Signup and view all the answers

What role do shared feelings of fear play in human evolution?

They promote cooperation against common threats. Signup and view all the answers

How do human attitudes towards mates relate to evolutionary psychology?

They reflect psychological tendencies beneficial for survival. Signup and view all the answers

What does the statement 'humans are pre-programmed to fear certain things' imply about behavior?

Fears may be an adaptive trait shaped by natural selection. Signup and view all the answers

What does de-individuation lead to in group settings?

Loss of self-consciousness Signup and view all the answers

What impact does anonymity have on children's behavior in a group setting?

It increases stealing behaviors Signup and view all the answers

According to Gustav Le Bon, how does a man's behavior change in a crowd?

He acts based on instinct Signup and view all the answers

What effect does the presence of a mirror have on individuals in a group when they are tempted to behave immorally?

It decreases their likelihood of immoral actions Signup and view all the answers

What psychological phenomena occur due to people interacting in groups?

Increased self-disclosure Signup and view all the answers

What phenomenon describes the process of feeling less individual in a group?

De-individuation Signup and view all the answers

What consequence does a group setting commonly have on aggression?

It often heightens aggression Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT an effect of de-individuation?

Increased prosocial behavior Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary difference between public compliance and private acceptance in social conformity?

Public compliance involves agreeing with the group without changing one's own beliefs, while private acceptance entails changing one's personal beliefs. Signup and view all the answers

What does the research regarding trick-or-treating during Halloween suggest about group behavior?

Groups display less moral restraint than individuals. Signup and view all the answers

In the Zaki et al. (2012) study on social conformity, what was the primary aim of the second phase of the experiment?

To investigate if conformity influenced both outward behavior and internal judgments. Signup and view all the answers

How does the combination of anonymity and group presence affect moral behaviors?

It leads to a diffusion of responsibility. Signup and view all the answers

Which brain structure was analyzed in the study to assess the impact of conformity on the valuation of facial attractiveness?

Nucleus accumbens Signup and view all the answers

What was the method of peer feedback provided to participants during the initial phase of the Zaki et al. study?

Feedback presumed to be from strangers. Signup and view all the answers

How did the participants' ratings of attractiveness change after receiving positive feedback in the study?

Their ratings increased after exposure to positive feedback. Signup and view all the answers

What was the format of the attractiveness rating scale used in the Zaki et al. study?

1 to 7 Signup and view all the answers

What effect did negative feedback have on participants' ratings of facial attractiveness compared to positive feedback?

It impacted their ratings more significantly than positive feedback. Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of the nucleus accumbens activity in the context of the experiment?

It assigns positive value and pleasure in response to attractiveness. Signup and view all the answers

What phenomenon is illustrated by the emotional contagion described at the beginning of the content?

The transmission of emotions through social networks. Signup and view all the answers

What might lead individuals to conform to social behavior, as suggested in the content?

To avoid emotional disconnect. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail

The text describes the relationship between morality and reasoning, comparing morality to a dog and reasoning to its tail. Just as the tail has no choice but to follow the dog, reasoning often follows morality and is not necessarily helpful.
Moral dumbfounding occurs when individuals hold strong moral beliefs but struggle to provide logical reasons to support them. Despite this, they remain steadfast in their original position.
Psychopathy is an example of how emotional capacity, rather than reasoning ability, drives moral behavior. Psychopaths possess sound cognitive reasoning but lack emotional empathy, allowing them to commit morally wrong acts.
Explicit attitudes are those we are consciously aware of and can verbally express, such as our thoughts on a person or ourselves, and tend to contain positive evaluations.
Implicit attitudes are less conscious and difficult to articulate, often manifesting as more nuanced, negative, self-critical, or vulnerable sentiments.
Individuals can hold opposing explicit and implicit attitudes towards the same thing.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT)

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures automatic associations between concepts, like "good/bad" and "self/other."
It utilizes reaction time to gauge a person's evaluation. The faster the response, the stronger the association.

Where Does Affective Value Come From?

Evolutionary Influences: Psychological tendencies that enhance survival and reproduction in the animal kingdom become more common in a species. This principle applies to human attitudes, shaping our views towards things like mating preferences or instinctive reactions to certain objects.
Examples:
- Fear of spiders can be learned even without visual exposure, as it promoted survival in our ancestors.
- A mutation that prevents fear toward snakes or spiders would be less likely to survive, as individuals without this fear would be at greater risk.
- Heritability of attitudes: Studies indicate that genetic factors significantly impact attitudes, with monozygotic (identical) twins exhibiting higher correlations in attitudes than dizygotic (fraternal) twins due to shared genetics.
- Religiosity is partially determined by genetic factors, with about 40% of religiosity being influenced by genes.

Social Norms: Our understanding of morality can be significantly impacted by the social norms and values of our culture, which change over time.
Historical Examples:
- Burning people at the stake for witchcraft was a common practice in the 16th century, now considered morally horrific.
- Owning slaves in the 18th-19th century, with their inherent abuse and economic exploitation, is now widely condemned.
Social Conforming: We tend to align our own thoughts and behaviors with those around us, which can influence our moral judgments. Examples include:
- Acceptance of pre-marital sex has increased over time due to social conforming.
- Conversely, attitudes toward extramarital sex have remained relatively stable.
- Changes in drug use perception: Cocaine was once a legal ingredient in Coca-Cola, demonstrating how social norms and acceptance can evolve over time.

Social conformity can lead to both public compliance and private acceptance:
- Public compliance: Adjusting one's outward behavior to fit in with others. This is often seen in situations where individuals hold private beliefs that differ from the group norm but publicly conform to maintain acceptance or avoid conflict.
- Private acceptance: Internalizing the group's opinion and changing one's own beliefs, feelings, and perceptions. This is a more profound form of conformity, as it represents a genuine shift in an individual's understanding or viewpoint influenced by the group.
- Zaki et al. (2012) study: Examined how social conformity can influence private acceptance through feedback on facial attractiveness. Individuals consistently rated faces as more attractive after receiving social feedback indicating that others found them attractive. This demonstrates how social conformity can lead to internalized changes.

Feeling Arise from Interaction

Interactions between people can produce psychological phenomena that cannot be reduced to individual factors. For example, two introverted individuals in a romantic relationship can reveal more to each other than they normally would, illustrating how social interaction can foster intimacy and self-disclosure.

The Crowd and Instinct

According to Gustav Le Bon, author of "The Crowd; A Study of the Popular Mind," individuals within crowds revert to a more primitive state and act by instinct, exhibiting less self-control.

De-Individualization:

The concept of de-individuation suggests that individuals can lose their self-awareness and self-control within a group, leading to uninhibited behavior.
Research on de-individualization:
- Studies on trick-or-treating demonstrated that children are more likely to steal candy and money if they are anonymous and in a group.
- The presence of a mirror reduces immoral behavior, suggesting that increased self-consciousness can counteract de-individuation.

De-Individualization: Not Inherently Negative

While de-individualization can lead to negative outcomes, it's not inherently bad. It can also promote positive consequences depending on the group's overall actions.
De-individuation's impact depends on the broader context of the group's behavior. It can either encourage harmful or beneficial behaviors based on the group's actions and intentions.

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Description

Explore the intricate relationship between morality and reasoning in this quiz, inspired by the concept of the emotional dog and its rational tail. Delve into topics such as moral dumbfounding, psychopathy, and the distinction between explicit and implicit attitudes. Test your understanding of how emotions influence moral judgments and reasoning processes.