Final Report Summary - MORALCOMPASS (The Moral Compass: How Moral Judgment Guides Political Attitudes)
This multidisciplinary research program attempts to develop a new theoretical paradigm for the understanding of morality in politics, with particular emphasis on the role of moral conviction in political attitude formation. Applying seminal theories in political philosophy as well as up-to-date theories in psychology, behavioural economics, and neuroscience, it establishes theoretical and methodological foundations upon which morality can be integrated in subsequent research in the social sciences, and tests the role played by emotional and intuitive morality in the formation of political attitudes.
The ultimate goals of this project were: (a) To produce a series of publications based on the novel theory and methods, and using original data. Four consecutive data collections were planned for the project, including both experiments and surveys. (b) To produce additional grant applications aimed at establishing an Experimental Laboratory of Political Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, devoted to cutting-edge experimental research in political science, based on the products of this project. (c) To disseminate the knowledge thus obtained both to the scientific community, by hosting and partaking in academic activities, and to the wider audience, by presenting the work in public events and in the mass media.
First, three of the planned manuscripts have already been accepted for publication, and one more project is currently under preparation.
In an experimental study, I identified a potential causal link between moral conviction on political issues and both the moral emotion of disgust and harm associations and. This solo paper experimentally demonstrated that moral judgment is bi-dimensional, with one dimension pertaining to harm and the other to moral emotions. The study was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Political Psychology (2014), and is entitled “Disgust, Harm, and Morality in Politics.” This journal is the leading venue in the field of political psychology, ranking 8/161 in political science (the 2014 impact factor is 2.384).
Another study builds on correlational data to suggest that moral judgment guides political behaviour. The paper first lays down the mechanisms explaining the role of morality in attitude strength, extremity of attitude, single-issue voting, and participation, and then examines the extent to which these are accounted for by moral convictions. I find both sentimental and reasoned moral convictions to be strong political cues, available to both ideological sides, and independent of political sophistication. This empirical evidence supports the classic Humean view (1960, 1978), according to which moral judgment does not necessarily involve any effortful analysis, and often occurs very quickly, via emotional and intuitive responses. This paper was published in American Politics Research (2013), and is entitled “The Public’s Compass: Moral Conviction and Political Attitudes.” The journal ranks 77/161 in political science.
The third publication reports on an experimental study examining the role of sentimental moral conviction, and particularly the role of disgust, in motivating intolerance toward religious out-groups. Current literature in moral psychology argues that the emotion of disgust underlies the purification schema. Accordingly, studies suggest that the religious are more sensitive to disgust, and are more likely to express disgust due to contact with out-group religious beliefs. Using this literature as a guide, this experimental study demonstrates that both an informational environment where disgust is evoked (state disgust) and an individual propensity to disgust sensitivity (trait disgust) increase expressed antipathy toward the religiously dissimilar. Results were replicated among Israeli Jews and American Catholics. This study, entitled “Religion, Morality, and Tolerance: The Role of Disgust” was published as a chapter in a book that just came out from Temple University Press (2015).
The fourth paper is under preparation. As planned, this study experimentally manipulates incidental disgust and tests for its role in dehumanization in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first wave of an adult sample was fielded, employing an external survey company. Findings suggest that, across both experimental primes, induced incidental disgust boosts dehumanization of Palestinians by Israeli-Jewish participants. This effect did not interact with political ideology; that is, disgust increased dehumanization for both left- and right-wing participants.
Excellent progress was achieved with regard to the second objective as well. Proceedings from the CIG grant were at the core of additional grant applications, and greatly enhanced my ability to seek funding for future research and for the construction of the Experimental Laboratory of Political Psychology at Hebrew University, to be devoted to cutting-edge experimental research in political science. Indeed, I was fortunate enough to win both internal and external grants (from the Israeli Science Foundation). Building on these funds, and in accord with my original goals, I have established the planned experimental laboratory. Being situated in Jerusalem, the laboratory will provide students with opportunities to apply their learning to real-life political phenomena. I have also organized a group of four students – lab members – whom I hope to guide in writing their MA and PhD dissertations. Moreover, I prepared two-semester undergraduate- and graduate- directed empirical seminars on the political psychology of morality and religion, which I taught three times as of yet.
Thirdly, my third objective was to organize and host an international panel on the topic in order to promote and advance the research related to it, tighten the social ties in this field, and share the knowledge with both scientific and non-scientific audiences.
Scientific audiences: I hosted three prominent international scholars at my host institution, who presented research on the political psychology of values. One panel was devoted to the moral emotion of empathy, while another panel was on the moral actions of decision-makers. I chaired both panels, which were well-attended by faculty and students. Further, I participated in academic conferences in order to present the above-described studies. For instance, I presented a talk titled “Morality and Political Persuasion” at The Harvard-IDC Symposium in Political Psychology and Decision-Making, and presented a 75-minute session on my research agenda regarding morality at the Nathan Stemmer Memorial Colloquium on the Philosophy and Science of Morality (hosted by the Center for Moral and Political Philosophy at Hebrew University). The title of my talk was “Moral Judgement and Political Attitudes,” and it was part of a two-day multidisciplinary international conference.
Non-scientific audiences: I presented my work on morality in politics at two events designed for the wider public and organized by Hebrew University. I presented a talk entitled, “The Politics of Disgust: Morality, Repulsion, and Political Attitudes” during “Einstein in Aza Street,” an event that offers lectures by Hebrew University professors presented at local bookstores, shops, restaurants, cafes, and homes in the Rehavia neighbourhood of Jerusalem. I also gave a talk at an event entitled “What do we mean by social justice?” organized by Hebrew University’s Center for the Development of University-Community Ties.
Further, my publications on morality in politics have been discussed and presented to the wider public in several mass media venues, and they include a recent article appearing in the prominent UK newspaper The Guardian, describing at length my Political Psychology article on morality and politics, in the well-regarded Israeli Magazine TheMarker, which devoted an article to my research agenda on morality in politics, and in the Israeli digital magazine Alaxon, where I was interviewed about this work. Finally, my Political Psychology article has also been discussed at length in a well-read international blog.
Lastly, I was awarded tenure and promotion to Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Hebrew University in March 2015. As this occurred only three and a half years after joining the department, this was a particularly fast promotion.
The ultimate goals of this project were: (a) To produce a series of publications based on the novel theory and methods, and using original data. Four consecutive data collections were planned for the project, including both experiments and surveys. (b) To produce additional grant applications aimed at establishing an Experimental Laboratory of Political Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, devoted to cutting-edge experimental research in political science, based on the products of this project. (c) To disseminate the knowledge thus obtained both to the scientific community, by hosting and partaking in academic activities, and to the wider audience, by presenting the work in public events and in the mass media.
First, three of the planned manuscripts have already been accepted for publication, and one more project is currently under preparation.
In an experimental study, I identified a potential causal link between moral conviction on political issues and both the moral emotion of disgust and harm associations and. This solo paper experimentally demonstrated that moral judgment is bi-dimensional, with one dimension pertaining to harm and the other to moral emotions. The study was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Political Psychology (2014), and is entitled “Disgust, Harm, and Morality in Politics.” This journal is the leading venue in the field of political psychology, ranking 8/161 in political science (the 2014 impact factor is 2.384).
Another study builds on correlational data to suggest that moral judgment guides political behaviour. The paper first lays down the mechanisms explaining the role of morality in attitude strength, extremity of attitude, single-issue voting, and participation, and then examines the extent to which these are accounted for by moral convictions. I find both sentimental and reasoned moral convictions to be strong political cues, available to both ideological sides, and independent of political sophistication. This empirical evidence supports the classic Humean view (1960, 1978), according to which moral judgment does not necessarily involve any effortful analysis, and often occurs very quickly, via emotional and intuitive responses. This paper was published in American Politics Research (2013), and is entitled “The Public’s Compass: Moral Conviction and Political Attitudes.” The journal ranks 77/161 in political science.
The third publication reports on an experimental study examining the role of sentimental moral conviction, and particularly the role of disgust, in motivating intolerance toward religious out-groups. Current literature in moral psychology argues that the emotion of disgust underlies the purification schema. Accordingly, studies suggest that the religious are more sensitive to disgust, and are more likely to express disgust due to contact with out-group religious beliefs. Using this literature as a guide, this experimental study demonstrates that both an informational environment where disgust is evoked (state disgust) and an individual propensity to disgust sensitivity (trait disgust) increase expressed antipathy toward the religiously dissimilar. Results were replicated among Israeli Jews and American Catholics. This study, entitled “Religion, Morality, and Tolerance: The Role of Disgust” was published as a chapter in a book that just came out from Temple University Press (2015).
The fourth paper is under preparation. As planned, this study experimentally manipulates incidental disgust and tests for its role in dehumanization in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first wave of an adult sample was fielded, employing an external survey company. Findings suggest that, across both experimental primes, induced incidental disgust boosts dehumanization of Palestinians by Israeli-Jewish participants. This effect did not interact with political ideology; that is, disgust increased dehumanization for both left- and right-wing participants.
Excellent progress was achieved with regard to the second objective as well. Proceedings from the CIG grant were at the core of additional grant applications, and greatly enhanced my ability to seek funding for future research and for the construction of the Experimental Laboratory of Political Psychology at Hebrew University, to be devoted to cutting-edge experimental research in political science. Indeed, I was fortunate enough to win both internal and external grants (from the Israeli Science Foundation). Building on these funds, and in accord with my original goals, I have established the planned experimental laboratory. Being situated in Jerusalem, the laboratory will provide students with opportunities to apply their learning to real-life political phenomena. I have also organized a group of four students – lab members – whom I hope to guide in writing their MA and PhD dissertations. Moreover, I prepared two-semester undergraduate- and graduate- directed empirical seminars on the political psychology of morality and religion, which I taught three times as of yet.
Thirdly, my third objective was to organize and host an international panel on the topic in order to promote and advance the research related to it, tighten the social ties in this field, and share the knowledge with both scientific and non-scientific audiences.
Scientific audiences: I hosted three prominent international scholars at my host institution, who presented research on the political psychology of values. One panel was devoted to the moral emotion of empathy, while another panel was on the moral actions of decision-makers. I chaired both panels, which were well-attended by faculty and students. Further, I participated in academic conferences in order to present the above-described studies. For instance, I presented a talk titled “Morality and Political Persuasion” at The Harvard-IDC Symposium in Political Psychology and Decision-Making, and presented a 75-minute session on my research agenda regarding morality at the Nathan Stemmer Memorial Colloquium on the Philosophy and Science of Morality (hosted by the Center for Moral and Political Philosophy at Hebrew University). The title of my talk was “Moral Judgement and Political Attitudes,” and it was part of a two-day multidisciplinary international conference.
Non-scientific audiences: I presented my work on morality in politics at two events designed for the wider public and organized by Hebrew University. I presented a talk entitled, “The Politics of Disgust: Morality, Repulsion, and Political Attitudes” during “Einstein in Aza Street,” an event that offers lectures by Hebrew University professors presented at local bookstores, shops, restaurants, cafes, and homes in the Rehavia neighbourhood of Jerusalem. I also gave a talk at an event entitled “What do we mean by social justice?” organized by Hebrew University’s Center for the Development of University-Community Ties.
Further, my publications on morality in politics have been discussed and presented to the wider public in several mass media venues, and they include a recent article appearing in the prominent UK newspaper The Guardian, describing at length my Political Psychology article on morality and politics, in the well-regarded Israeli Magazine TheMarker, which devoted an article to my research agenda on morality in politics, and in the Israeli digital magazine Alaxon, where I was interviewed about this work. Finally, my Political Psychology article has also been discussed at length in a well-read international blog.
Lastly, I was awarded tenure and promotion to Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Hebrew University in March 2015. As this occurred only three and a half years after joining the department, this was a particularly fast promotion.