Download APSperception2012

TITLE: Moral identity
mindsets differentially
perceive needy child
AUTHORS: Narvaez,
Mrkva, Bettonville,
Mullen, Delgado,
Prister, Ledden,
Denkhaus
50 word abstract (48 words)
Two studies compared high ethical engagement (relational attunement) identity and high safety (selfprotection) ethical identity on distance estimations of happy and sad baby photos. We found predicted
effects. Those with high engagement saw the sad baby closer and those with high security saw the sad
baby further away.
500 word summary (454 words)
Multiple motivational influences on perception have been found: those who are fatigued or
carrying heavy objects or even in a negative mood perceive distances as further away or hills as steeper
(Balcetis & Dunning, 2010; Bhalla & Proffitt, 1999; Proffitt et al, 2003; Stefanucci et al, 2008). The
research question we address is whether moral motivation affects perception.
Triune ethics theory (Narvaez, 2008) contends that people act in accordance with one of three
mindsets in a given moral situation—safety (self-protection), engagement (relational presence), or
imagination (reflective abstraction). An identity measure for each mindset has respondents rate the
importance of a set of traits representing an ethic (Safety: tough, controlled, competitive, unyielding;
Engagement: caring, compassionate, merciful, cooperative; Imagination: reflective, inventive,
thoughtful , reasonable). In prior studies, high engagement identity was correlated with empathy and
action for the less fortunate and high security with the opposite pattern. In study 1 (n=72) we explored
whether people who have high Engagement identity scores perceive the target (a needy person) as
nearer and whether those who have high Safety identity perceive the target as further away (less
desirable). Participants made quick estimations of the distance from themselves to a photograph of
either a crying baby, a happy baby, or a neutral “X”. Individuals who scored in the highest tercile on
engagement moral identity judged the crying baby photograph to be over 3 feet closer than those in the
lowest tercile, while the two groups did not differ on distance estimations for the other objects.
Individuals who scored high on the security moral identity measure did not differ from those who scored
low on any distance estimations.
Study 2 was a replication using a similar design and a shortened measure of security moral
identity. Participants (n = 144) were randomly assigned to the crying baby condition or the happy baby
condition. Participants who scored in the upper tercile on the Safety moral identity judged the crying
baby photograph to be further away than those who scored in the lowest tercile, but did not differ on
distance estimations for the happy photograph. Those who scored in the upper tercile of engagement
moral identity judged the crying baby to be over 2 feet closer but this did not reach significance (p =
.12). However those who scored highest on the empathic concern scale of the Interpersonal Reactivity
Index judged the crying baby to be significantly closer than the lowest on empathy. There were no
differences for distance estimations of the happy-baby photograph. These data provides initial support
that moral mindset and emotional habits can influence perception. The studies offer insight into the
construct of moral perception and how people may visually see the same situation differently depending
on a habitual moral mindset.