Morality
Why We're All Moral Relativists at Heart
Sep/18/2011 09:30
Dave has an article in the Boston Globe today on how and why moral relativism is deeply embedded in the mind. Unfortunately, you have to register to gain access, but the Globe is still free online (at least for now). Read More...
Should We Base Our Morality on the Decisions of Psychopaths?
Aug/22/2011 15:16
Josh Greene has been at the leading edge of illuminating how the moral mind works. Together with his colleagues, he's demonstrated that many of the mind's moral judgments are driven by an ancient, intuitive calculus often based on the simple rule: do no harm. Although automatic rules such as these often work well, they can sometimes lead to questionable decisions. In those cases, Josh and others suggest, we might "put the brakes" on our intuitive assumptions and consciously direct our judgments using principles like utilitarianism. That may sound reasonable at first, but new research by Daniel Bartels and David Pizarro shows that this is exactly the strategy used by psychopaths. Read More...
Morality and the London Riots
Aug/12/2011 12:43
We have a piece in the The Times' Eureka Daily Science Blog today on why Prime Minster Cameron's assertions that the rioting reflects "criminality, pure and simple" stemming from "poor parenting" might just be a bit too simplistic. Unfortunately, we can't post it here, as it's behind the Times' pay wall. But for those of you who have access, check it out here. It makes a nice companion piece to the Times' lead story today on Natasha Reid -- a student who inexplicably, even to herself, joined the looting only to regret it later and turn herself in. Read More...
Educating the Next Generation of Business Leaders
Jul/27/2011 09:56
Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria had an interesting Q&A in the New York Times recently. He noted that one of the three major changes to the curriculum at HBS involved a greater focus on the development of leadership. Read More...
The Benefits of Sacrifice
Jul/22/2011 13:53
Past research has shown that we tend to have an aversion to inequality, especially when we are getting the short end of the stick. But it is also true that we often sacrifice our own self-interest to enhance the welfare of others. These seem to be contradictory effects. How can we on the one hand care about someone else’s well-being while on the other also want to be better off than they are? Read More...
Good Groups Can Lead to Bad Apples
Jul/13/2011 13:31
Does belonging to a morally-upstanding group increase the odd that a person will behave virtuously? You might think so, as the norm for the group would be one that favors moral actions. Yet, new research by Maryam Kouchaki suggests that belonging to such groups might, at times, have the opposite effect. Read More...
Liberals vs Conservatives: Maybe Not So Different at Heart
Jul/11/2011 08:57
This morning brings us news that the "grand bargain" in Washington appears to have collapsed. It's yet another example of the seeming disconnect between progressives and conservatives. Few psychologists have done more than my friend Jon Haidt to illuminate the psychological differences that characterize the liberal and conservative minds, respectively. But new research by Jennifer Cole Wright and Galen Baril suggests that while Jon may have the overall picture correct, one important detail may need revision: maybe we're all liberals at heart. Read More...
Malodorousness Strikes Again
Jul/07/2011 09:58
Our colleague David Pizarro at Cornell had a wonderful NYT Op-Ed awhile back explaining the science behind Carl Paladino's (former candidate for NY Governor) political mailing about the corruption in Albany that was scented to smell like garbage. David has done some of the most interesting work on disgust out there, and he (along with colleagues Yoel Inbar and Paul Bloom) has struck again -- this time showing how subtle feelings of disgust stemming from a foul smell can enhance bias against gay men. Read More...
Does Disgust Breed Pacifism?
Jun/30/2011 09:55
Anger is intimately linked with aggression. Much research has shown that people who chronically experience anger also tend to be more likely to lash out at others in hostile ways. No surprise there. But what about disgust? Recent work has suggested that the image of the school-yard pacifist with nose in the air looking down on the two kids pummeling each other while saying, "You disgust me" may have some scientific import, but in the opposite direction than most people think. Read More...
A Culture of Bribery?
Jun/24/2011 11:12
There is a fairly universal view that bribery is an immoral practice, yet as the World Bank notes, more than $1 trillion (or 3% of the world GDP) is paid annually in bribes. Fascinating new research by Nina Mazar and Pankaj Aggarwal at the Rotman Business School in Toronto suggests, however, that the contributions to this figure may differ immensely across cultures. Everyone hates it, but citizens of some cultures might just hate it a little less . . . Read More...
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Jun/06/2011 22:41
Days of protestations and puns aside, it seems it was Mr. Weiner all along. What was he thinking? It's anybody's guess. But why he fell prey to twittering his anatomy is a classic example of the short- vs. long-term tradeoffs that occupy our minds. Read More...
Maybe The Sexes Aren't So Different
May/26/2011 23:05
With the current news cycle being dominated by powerful males acting inappropriately (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the acquittal of two police offers for the alleged rape of a woman in New York City it's tempting to conclude that there's something about being a man in power that lends itself to sexual misconduct. Read More...
Power Goggles
May/19/2011 08:43
As Maureen Dowd cleverly notes in her NYT column, power can seem to distort the view of men when it comes to sex. So, while it seems that Messrs. Schwarzenegger and Strauss-Kahn appear to have a history of misbehavior with women, the question that arises, of course, is why? Read More...
The Calculus of Compassion
May/11/2011 20:19
Although human suffering has always been with us, the past few months have provided several vivid examples in quick succession. From the tragic consequences of the Japanese earthquake, to the devastated neighborhoods from tornados in the American South, to the humanitarian crisis unfolding daily in Libya, the plight of thousands has been on almost daily display. Read More...
Why Torture is a Moving Target
Apr/20/2011 10:08
Torture, unfortunately, has been a part of human behavior for as far back as we can peer. You need only look to the events in Libya or Abu Ghraib to see its continuing presence. Whether it's used to punish or to warn, its effects are terrible on those who are forced to endure it. And almost all of us would agree that torture is an immoral act. But to classify it as immoral, we first have to agree that an act is, in itself, painful enough to be considered torture. Here, can be surprising levels of disagreement. Is waterboarding torture? Is sleep deprivation torture? How about being forced to endure frigid temperatures? Read More...
Barry Bonds and the Slippery Slope
Apr/14/2011 11:32
For all his great accomplishments, Barry Bonds is likely to be remembered most for being convicted of obstructing justice. It appears that Bonds, like many baseball heros, succumbed to the use of steroids to enhance performance. But unlike many, Bonds worked really hard to try to convince people he didn't. The question that interests us isn't only how did it come to this, but what does it mean going forward for aspiring athletes? Read More...
Looking at You, Thinking of Him: Forbidding Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Apr/12/2011 11:36
It’s no surprise that partners who are less interested in alternatives to their current relationship partners turn out to be more satisfied with those relationships. If you don’t think the grass is greener, then you won’t be as interested in hopping the fence. What should come as a bigger surprise are the findings of a group of psychologists at the University of Kentucky and Florida State suggesting how one might react to a partner whose eyes are wandering: let them ogle.
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YouTube as Emotional Conduit
Apr/07/2011 16:20
"We are left isolated" Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of the Japanese city of Minamisoma, said with face drawn and voice strained, as he recorded a video pleading for assistance. His city, like many in Northern Japan, was devastated by the earthquake, leaving citizens with little food and medicine and, due to radiation warnings, little option but to remain indoors. It was a dire situation with little hope for the arrival of aid anytime soon. With nothing to loose, the mayor's plea was posted on YouTube, and has since become one of the fastest spreading and viewed clips (see NYT coverage here). People from all over suddenly began sending aid and Minamisoma, though still reeling from multiple tragedies, suddenly became the beneficiary of kindness. What happened? Read More...
Hypocrisy Isn't Just for Politicians
Mar/29/2011 23:52
Joe Scarborough had an interesting piece in Politico yesterday where he suggested that many on the left were engaging in moral hypocrisy by supporting President Obama’s actions in Libya while they condemned President Bush’s in Iraq. Simply put, Scarborough asks, “ How can the left call for the ouster of Muammar Qadhafi for the sin of killing hundreds of Libyans when it opposed the war waged against Saddam Hussein? During Saddam’s two decades in Iraq, he killed more Muslims than anyone in history and used chemical weapons against his own people and neighboring states.” He’s got a point. Although people can attempt to argue nuances, it’s hard to escape the label of hypocrisy when a person condemns others for actions or beliefs she herself embraces in similar situations. Read More...
We're All Flagellants at Heart
Mar/18/2011 09:54
Self-flagellation, it seems, has always been with us. From ancient cults of Isis and Dionysus, to the roaming flagellants of the European Middle Ages, to current examples of self-crucifixion in the Philippines in the Easter season and zanjeer (ritual self-infliction of pain, often with a chain) in many Islamic nations on the Day of Ashura. Most of us recoil when we see these behaviors. “Yes, guilt is one thing,” we may think, “but why in the world would anyone hurt themselves for it?” What ever happened to saying you’re sorry? Read More...
The Power of Compassion
Mar/10/2011 22:53
Is compassion a moral force? The answer, according to many spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, is a resounding yes. The experience of compassion, they assert, has a radiating effect, extending kindness and forgiveness toward others, even those who have intentionally transgressed. If this is true, it suggests that compassion has the potential to stand as a counterweight to desires for punishment and revenge – a force capable of inhibiting actions that typically result in escalations of violence. Read More...
The Nature of the Social Mind
Mar/08/2011 22:12
David Brooks has a great article (The New Humanism) on the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times today where he argues that many of the policy failings of the past decades have stemmed from “a single failure: reliance on an overly simplistic view of human nature.” Picking up on themes that have flowed from the fields of psychology and behavioral economics, he points out a common error – separating rationality from intuition (or, as it’s often noted, conscious reasoning from nonconscious or intuitive mechanisms). Read More...
