Counterfactualthinkingisthinkingaboutapastthatdidnothappen.Thisisoftenthecasein“ifonly...”situations,wherewewishsomethinghadorhadnothappened.Tomakeachoiceinamoraldecision-makingsituationisparticularlyhardand,therefore,maybeoftenassociatedwiththeimaginationofadifferentoutcome.Themainaimofthepresentstudyistoinvestigatecounterfactualthinkinginthecontextofmoralreasoning.WeusedamodifiedversionofGreene’smoraldilemmastest,studyingboththetimeneededtoprovideacounterfactualinthefirstandthirdpersonandthetypeofgivenresponse(incontext-outofcontext)inasampleof90healthysubjects.Wefoundalongerresponsetimeforpersonalvs.impersonalmoraldilemmas.Thiseffectwasenhancedinthefirstpersonperspective,whileintheelderlytherewasanoverallslowingofresponsetime.Outofcontext/omissiveresponsesweremorefrequentinthecaseofpersonalmoraldilemmaspresentedinthefirstpersonversion,withfemalesshowingamarkedincreaseinthiskindofresponse.Thesefindingssuggestthatgenderandperspectivehaveacriticalroleincounterfactualthinkinginthecontextofmoralreasoning,andmayhaveimplicationsfortheunderstandingofgender-relatedinclinationsaswellasdifferencesinmoraljudgment.
Counterfactual thinking in moral judgement: an experimental study
Migliore S;CURCIO, GIUSEPPE;
2014-01-01
Abstract
Counterfactualthinkingisthinkingaboutapastthatdidnothappen.Thisisoftenthecasein“ifonly...”situations,wherewewishsomethinghadorhadnothappened.Tomakeachoiceinamoraldecision-makingsituationisparticularlyhardand,therefore,maybeoftenassociatedwiththeimaginationofadifferentoutcome.Themainaimofthepresentstudyistoinvestigatecounterfactualthinkinginthecontextofmoralreasoning.WeusedamodifiedversionofGreene’smoraldilemmastest,studyingboththetimeneededtoprovideacounterfactualinthefirstandthirdpersonandthetypeofgivenresponse(incontext-outofcontext)inasampleof90healthysubjects.Wefoundalongerresponsetimeforpersonalvs.impersonalmoraldilemmas.Thiseffectwasenhancedinthefirstpersonperspective,whileintheelderlytherewasanoverallslowingofresponsetime.Outofcontext/omissiveresponsesweremorefrequentinthecaseofpersonalmoraldilemmaspresentedinthefirstpersonversion,withfemalesshowingamarkedincreaseinthiskindofresponse.Thesefindingssuggestthatgenderandperspectivehaveacriticalroleincounterfactualthinkinginthecontextofmoralreasoning,andmayhaveimplicationsfortheunderstandingofgender-relatedinclinationsaswellasdifferencesinmoraljudgment.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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