Moral expansiveness:Examining variability in the extension of the moral world

The nature of our moral judgments—and the extent to which we treat others with care—depend in part on the distinctions we make between entities deemed worthy or unworthy of moral consideration—our moral boundaries. Philosophers, historians, and social scientists have noted that people’s moral boundaries have expanded over the last few centuries, but the notion of moral expansiveness has received limited empirical attention in psychology. This research explores variations in the size of individuals’ moral boundaries using the psychological construct of moral expansiveness and introduces the Moral Expansiveness Scale (MES), designed to capture this variation. Across 6 studies, we established the reliability, convergent validity, and predictive validity of the MES. Moral expansiveness was related (but not reducible) to existing moral constructs (moral foundations, moral identity, “moral” universalism values), predictors of moral standing (moral patiency and warmth), and other constructs associated with concern for others (empathy, identification with humanity, connectedness to nature, and social responsibility). Importantly, the MES uniquely predicted willingness to engage in prosocial intentions and behaviors at personal cost independently of these established constructs. Specifically, the MES uniquely predicted willingness to prioritize humanitarian and environmental concerns over personal and national self-interest, willingness to sacrifice one’s life to save others (ranging from human out-groups to animals and plants), and volunteering behavior. Results demonstrate that moral expansiveness is a distinct and important factor in understanding moral judgments and their consequences

Toward a Psychology of Moral Expansiveness

Theorists have long noted that people's moral circles have expanded over the course of history, with modern people extending moral concern to entities-both human and nonhuman-that our ancestors would never have considered including within their moral boundaries. In recent decades, researchers have sought a comprehensive understanding of the psychology of moral expansiveness. We first review the history of conceptual and methodological approaches in understanding our moral boundaries, with a particular focus on the recently developed Moral Expansiveness Scale. We then explore individual differences in moral expansiveness, attributes of entities that predict their inclusion in moral circles, and cognitive and motivational factors that help explain what we include within our moral boundaries and why they may shrink or expand. Throughout, we highlight the consequences of these psychological effects for real-world ethical decision making

Future Thinking: Predicting Social Attitudes from Collective Futures

Marijuana and abortion are two current social issues with potential for great societal consequence, not only in terms of life changing impact upon the individual, but upon wider society as a whole. Therefore attitudes toward the complete legalisation of these issues within Australia should be of great interest, i.e. what determines or influences a person's stance to these issues, and why? Previous research has established four main predictors of attitudes toward social issues; emotional reactions, religious identity, political orientation, and moral conviction. The current research seeks to determine what impact collective futures will have in predicting attitudes, i.e. dimensions of personality and societal change, and whether these dimensions contribute to attitudes on these issues in addition to these other predictors. One-hundred and thirty-six students from the University of Queensland completed an online survey assessing attitudes towards the legalisation of abortion or marijuana in Australia, together with measures identifying the bases for these views and the likely consequences for society into the future. This study found that collective futures significantly predicted attitudes towards the legalisation of marijuana and abortion. Specifically, dimensions of character enhancement and character demoralization predicted marijuana attitudes, whereas character enhancement and social issues predicted abortion attitudes. Furthermore, collective futures significantly predicted legalising marijuana attitudes after all other predictors had been taken into account. This research introduces the important role collective futures can play in predicting attitudes towards policies on current issues that have considerable impact upon society

Self-dehumanization

Dehumanization has been a topic of great interest within social psychology over the past decade. Much of this research has examined how and when dehumanization may become evident in how we view others. Our perceptions of others, however, are not the sole province of dehumanization. In this paper we review a series of studies showing that dehumanization can also be found in our perceptions of self. This may be the result of harmful treatment by others, or it may be triggered by our own harmful behavior. Self-dehumanization also has consequences for feelings and behavior. Experiencing self-dehumanization is associated with aversive self-awareness, cognitive deconstructive states and feelings of shame, guilt, sadness and anger. Self-dehumanization may also motivate behavior aimed at reparation, perhaps in an attempt to regain humanity lost. Self-dehumanization is an important concept for understanding the impact of, and responses to, harmful interpersonal behavior

The moral psychology of resource use

This chapter draws attention to an increasing pressure point in decision making around resource use and resource allocation. With a growing human population, the requirements for resources to meet basic human needs are increasing. At the same time, humans globally are becoming sensitive to the needs and rights of nonhumans, leading to an increased desire to protect natural environments and other species from harm. Focusing our analysis on the morality of human need satisfaction alone cannot account for the rapid rise of these organizations and the ways in which they are impacting on resource decision making. The field of moral psychology is growing, as is the field of environmental psychology, and believe that by bringing these two bodies of knowledge together it possible to make an important contribution, not only to the literature, but to public policy and public debate. Scholars have focused on resource dilemmas as social problems that exist between the competing needs of two human parties

Extreme self-sacrifice beyond fusion: moral expansiveness and the special case of allyship

As a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice, Whitehouse's article misses one relevant dimension: people's willingness to fight and die in support of entities not bound by biological markers or ancestral kinship (allyship). We discuss research on moral expansiveness, which highlights individuals' capacity to self-sacrifice for targets that lie outside traditional in-group markers, including racial out-groups, animals, and the natural environment

A microscopic dot on a microscopic dot: self-esteem buffers the negative effects of exposure to the enormity of the universe

Although our planet feels indescribably large, in the context of the universe it is infinitesimally small. For some, the feeling of smallness associated with being reminded of the vastness of the universe might represent a psychological threat. For others, it could be a self-transcendent experience, helping them rise above self-focused concerns and to feel a sense of oneness with others. In two studies (Ns = 294 and 409) we exposed people to videos that did or did not depict the enormity of the universe. Compared to a control condition, low self-esteem people exposed to the vastness of the universe reported more negative affect, less identification with others, less empathy to victims of a humanitarian disaster, and lower egalitarianism. This effect was not found for high self-esteem respondents. Results are discussed with reference to research on awe and the small self

Moral expansiveness short form: validity and reliability of the MESx

Moral expansiveness refers to the range of entities (human and non-human) deemed worthy of moral concern and treatment. Previous research has established that the Moral Expansiveness Scale (MES) is a powerful predictor of altruistic moral decision-making and captures a unique dimension of moral cognition. However, the length of the full MES may be restrictive for some researchers. Here we establish the reliability and validity of a reduced moral expansiveness scale, the MESx. Consistent with the full version, the MESx is strongly associated with (but not reducible to) theoretically related constructs, such as endorsement of universalism values, identification with all humanity, and connectedness to nature. The MESx also predicted measures of altruistic moral decision-making to the same degree as the full MES. Further, the MESx passed tests of discriminant validity, was unrelated to political conservatism (unlike the full MES), only mildly associated with the tendency to provide socially desirable responses, and produced moderate reliability over time. We conclude that the MESx is a psychometrically valid alternative for researchers requiring a short measure of moral expansiveness

The developmental origins of moral concern: an examination of moral boundary decision making throughout childhood

Prominent theorists have made the argument that modern humans express moral concern for a greater number of entities than at any other time in our past. Moreover, adults show stable patterns in the degrees of concern they afford certain entities over others, yet it remains unknown when and how these patterns of moral decision-making manifest in development. Children aged 4 to 10 years (N = 151) placed 24 pictures of human, animal, and environmental entities on a stratified circle representing three levels of moral concern. Although younger and older children expressed similar overall levels of moral concern, older children demonstrated a more graded understanding of concern by including more entities within the outer reaches of their moral circles (i.e., they were less likely to view moral inclusion as a simple in vs. out binary decision). With age children extended greater concern to humans than other forms of life, and more concern to vulnerable groups, such as the sick and disabled. Notably, children's level of concern for human entities predicted their prosocial behavior. The current research provides novel insights into the development of our moral reasoning and its structure within childhood