McNair, S orcid.org/0000-0003-3111-234X, Okan, Y orcid.org/0000-0001-7963-1363, Hadjichristidis, C orcid.org/0000-0002-9441-6650 et al. (1 more author) (2019) Age differences in moral judgment: Older adults are more deontological than younger adults. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 32 (1). pp. 47-60. ISSN 0894-3257
Abstract
In 2 studies, an older and a younger age group morally evaluated dilemmas contrasting a deontological judgment (do not harm others) against a utilitarian judgment (do what is best for the majority). Previous research suggests that deontological moral judgments are often underpinned by affective reactions and utilitarian moral judgments by deliberative thinking. Separately, research on the psychology of aging has shown that affect plays a more prominent role in the judgments and decision making of older (vs. younger) adults. Yet age remains a largely overlooked factor in moral judgment research. Here, we therefore investigated whether older adults would make more deontological judgments on the basis of experiencing different affective reactions to moral dilemmas as compared with younger adults. Results from 2 experiments indicated that older adults made significantly more deontological moral judgments. Mediation analyses revealed that the relationship between age and making more deontological moral judgments is partly explained by older adults exhibiting significantly more negative affective reactions and having more morally idealistic beliefs as compared with younger adults.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright (c) 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Age differences in moral judgment: Older adults are more deontological than younger adults, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2086. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. |
Keywords: | aging; emotion; individual differences; judgment and decision making; moral judgment |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Management Division (LUBS) (Leeds) > Management Division Decision Research (LUBS) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union PCIG13-GA-2013-618522 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Apr 2018 11:32 |
Last Modified: | 19 Jun 2019 00:41 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/bdm.2086 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:129907 |