Moral Psychology

Research on inmates and jihadists links spiritual formidability to extreme sacrifice through a sense of group entitlement.

New findings suggest the connection between family environment and moral development may vary based on individual temperament.

A new study finds that the presence of a person dressed as Batman on the subway significantly increased passengers' willingness to give up their seats to a pregnant woman.

A new study finds that one's moral philosophy, more than their political ideology, predicts their support for banning practices they find immoral. This difference helps explain a deep-seated source of political disagreement.

A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour explores how emotions like guilt and shame influence generous behavior across cultures. By examining decision-making in diverse societies, the researchers aimed to understand what drives people to help others.

Handing off a task to an artificial intelligence system creates a psychological distance that encourages unethical behavior. New research published in Nature demonstrates this "machine delegation" significantly lowers the moral cost for people who want to cheat for personal gain.

A pair of studies conducted in Spain provides evidence of a striking moral asymmetry in politics: both leftists and rightists feel more morally obligated to defend progressive causes, and conservatives tend to view liberals as more morally upright than vice...

Physically attractive women tend to report greater interest in casual sex, but a new study finds that traditional moral values—especially those emphasizing social order and purity—can override this tendency, particularly among women with rural or conservative backgrounds.

A large study has found that individuals with greater cognitive ability are less likely to endorse moral values such as compassion, fairness, loyalty, and purity. The results point to a consistent negative relationship between intelligence and moral intuitions.

Can you trust AI with your toughest moral questions? A new study suggests thinking twice. Researchers found large language models consistently favor inaction and "no" in ethical dilemmas.

Children who see themselves as moral tend to develop stronger social-emotional skills, and vice versa, according to new research in Cognition & Emotion that followed 500 children through the transition from kindergarten to first grade.

New research across three countries suggests that people view attractive individuals, especially women, as more moral—but this effect disappears when liking is accounted for. The findings highlight how emotional responses shape moral character judgments more than appearance alone.

A new study suggests that mindfulness doesn’t make everyone more helpful. People who see themselves as connected to others tend to be more generous when mindful, while highly independent individuals may become less inclined to help.

Researchers found that interoceptive awareness—the ability to sense internal bodily states—predicts whether people’s moral judgments match group norms. Brain scans revealed that resting-state activity in specific brain regions mediates this relationship.

Patriotism isn’t morally neutral. A recent study finds that different types of national pride align with distinct moral values—with uncritical patriotism tied to obedience over compassion.