What explains whether people are morally concerned towards different entities: The role of moral motives as predictors of the moral circle
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The expansiveness of our moral circle presents an important problem for the psychology of morality since to understand individual differences regarding the expansion of our moral concern is crucial to better understand what influences our moral actions. Overall the research conducted in regard to moral concern for other entities shows how moral boundaries vary extensively across people and situations and how it can be influenced by different mechanisms. Motivational factors have shown to have an impact on moral expansiveness; therefore we explored the Model of Moral Motives to understand its ability to explain the origins of moral expansiveness. We examined the predictors of the moral circle using the data collection of one hundred and four Portuguese participants that completed a questionnaire packet about morality. In this research we expected the moral circle to be associated with the endorsement of moral motives that are approach-oriented and other-focused (i.e., the Social Justice moral motive) overall our results showed that the model of moral motives can inform about our moral circle and inform about differences in our moral boundaries. We consider that our mains findings confirmed that moral motives are a promising approach to better understand moral expansiveness, therefore this research opens new possibilities for further studies in the same direction.
Source: Repositório do ISCTE-IUL
Author: Camacho, Angela Maria Sanahuja
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7016078667