Social cognitive theory of morality

About: Social cognitive theory of morality is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5842 publications have been published within this topic receiving 250337 citations.

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Deliberative Reasoning of Canadian and Chinese Accounting Students

Abstract: Using Hofstede’s culture theory (1980, 2001, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nation. Sage, NewYork), the current study incorporates the moral development (e.g. Thorne, 2000; Thorne and Magnan, 2000; Thorne et al., 2003) and multidimensional ethics scale (e.g. Cohen et al., 1993; Cohen et al., 1996b; Cohen et al., 2001; Flory et al., 1992) approaches to compare the ethical reasoning and decisions of Canadian and Mainland Chinese final year undergraduate accounting students. The results indicate that Canadian accounting students’ formulation of an intention to act on a particular ethical dilemma (deliberative reasoning) as measured by the moral development approach (Thorne, 2000) was higher than Mainland Chinese accounting students. The current study proposes that the five factors identified by the multidimensional ethics scale (MES), as being relevant to ethical decision making can be placed into␣the three levels of ethical reasoning identified by Kohlberg’s (1958, The Development of Modes of Moral Thinking and Choice in the Years Ten to Sixteen. University of Chicago, Doctoral dissertation) theory of cognitive moral development. Canadian accounting students used post-conventional MES factors (moral equity, contractualism, and utilitarianism) more frequently and made more ethical audit decisions than Chinese accounting students.

Experiential and Cognitive Sources of Moral Development in Adulthood

Abstract: This study examined three issues in adult moral development: (a) the relationship between cognitive and moral development; (b) the relationship between social experiences and rate of moral development

Relations of Peer Acceptance, Friendship Adjustment, and Social Behavior to Moral Reasoning During Early Adolescence

Abstract: The relations between moral reasoning and six dimensions of peer relationships were examined. Participants were 108 adolescents, age 10 through 13 years, who completed sociometric measures of accep...

Financial Deprivation Selectively Shifts Moral Standards and Compromises Moral Decisions

Abstract: Previous research suggests people firmly value moral standards. However, research has also shown that various factors can compromise moral behavior. Inspired by the recent financial turmoil, we investigate whether financial deprivation might shift people’s moral standards and consequently compromise their moral decisions. Across one pilot survey and five experiments, we find that people believe financial deprivation should not excuse immoral conduct; yet when people actually experience deprivation they seem to apply their moral standards more leniently. Thus, people who feel deprived tend to cheat more for financial gains and judge deprived moral offenders who cheat for financial gains less harshly. These effects are mediated by shifts in people’s moral standards: beliefs in whether deprivation is an acceptable reason for immorality. The effect of deprivation on immoral conduct diminishes when it is explicit that immoral conduct cannot help alleviate imbalances in deprived actors’ financial states, when financial deprivation seems fair or deserved, and when acting immorally seems unfair.

The Physiology of Moral Sentiments

Abstract: Adam Smith made a persuasive case that moral sentiments are the foundation of ethical behaviors in his 1759 The Theory of Moral Sentiments. This view is still controversial as philosophers debate the extent of human morality. One type of moral behavior, assisting a stranger, has been shown by economists to be quite common in the laboratory and outside it. This paper presents the Empathy-Generosity-Punishment model that reveals the criticality of moral sentiments in producing prosocial behaviors. The model's predictions are tested causally in three neuroeconomics experiments that directly intervene in the human brain to turn up and turn down moral sentiments. This approach provides direct evidence on the brain mechanisms the produce prosociality using a brain circuit called HOME (Human Oxytocin-Mediated Empathy). By characterizing the HOME circuit, I identify situations in which moral sentiments will be engaged or disengaged. Using this information, applications to health and welfare policies, organizational and institutional design, economic development, and happiness are presented.