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SWPS University - Main page

Does moral conduct impact the likability of a person?

It has been shown that people tend to positively judge the moral character of persons they like. Does the judgement change if one learns about not so illustrious behavior of the previously liked person? Researchers from SWPS University’s Center of Research on Cognition and Behavior, Konrad Bocian, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor, Katarzyna Myślińska-Szarek, M.A., Wiesław Baryła, Ph.D. / Assistant Professor, and Professor Bogdan Wojciszke investigated this question.

#moral judgments #likability #attitudes #liking bias

What we researched:

  • The researchers investigated to what extent moral information constrains the impact of the liking bias on moral character attributions—liked people are seen as more moral than disliked or neutral ones. Specifically, they aimed to test whether moral information updates moral character impressions trigged by liking. They also examined if liking corrects the moral character impressions triggered by moral information.

How we did it:

  • The researchers carried out three studies. Firstly, in Study 1, participants’ facial expressions were mimicked or not by a target person, while in Study 2 (preregistered) and Study 3, researchers convinced participants that the target person had similar or dissimilar personal preferences to their own.
  • Secondly, the team investigated if presenting participants with information regarding the past behavior of the target person would limit the influence of liking on moral character judgments. Specifically, they manipulated whether the given behavior was moral, immoral, or neutral (Study 1 and 2) or only immoral (Study 3).
  • Thirdly, in Study 3, the researchers investigated the underlying process of moral character impression updating, by measuring the extent to which participants were certain about their moral character judgments after the moral information and attitude induction.

Why is it important:

  • The team systematically examined when and how moral information limits the influence of liking on moral character judgments. The study replicated prior findings of the liking bias and negativity bias. The researchers also demonstrated that moral information, apart from education and accountability, could serve as another factor in helping people debias their moral character judgments. Finally, they found evidence suggesting that certainty is a potential psychological mechanism explaining why moral information leads to moral character impression updating.

The presented results indicate that moral character inferences triggered by liking could be limited or even eliminated when morally relevant information about people in judgment is present. However, whether moral information would help people debias their moral character judgments mostly depends on interpersonal relationship with a judged person.