Up Close & Personal: the Effects of Psychological Distance on Moral Judgments

EasyChair Preprint 8452

Abstract

According to construal level theory, people can represent events as psychologically proximal or distal. We examined how psychological distance shapes judgments about utilitarian moral dilemmas, like killing one to save many. We modified dilemmas to vary in psychological distance, and asked participants to judge morally ambiguous actions. Utilitarian acts were considered less acceptable following “proximal” than “distal” dilemmas. Our results partially support CLT, and demonstrate the importance of evaluating the materials used to elicit moral judgments.

Keyphrases: construal, moral judgment, psychological distance

@booklet{EasyChair:8452,
  author    = {Zachary Brustman and William Horton},
  title     = {Up Close & Personal: the Effects of Psychological Distance on Moral Judgments},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 8452},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2022}}