ABSTRACT
Philosophical arguments often assume that the folk tends towards moral objectivism. Although recent psychological studies have indicated that lay persons' attitudes to morality are best characterized in terms of non-objectivism-leaning pluralism, it has been maintained that the folk may be committed to moral objectivism implicitly. Since the studies conducted so far almost exclusively assessed subjects' metaethical attitudes via explicit cognitions, the strength of this rebuttal remains unclear. The current study attempts to test the folk's implicit metaethical commitments. We present results of a newly developed Implicit Association Test (IAT) for metaethical attitudes which indicate that the folk generally tend towards moral non-objectivism on the implicit level as well. We discuss implications of this finding for the philosophical debate.
ABSTRACT
As part of the shift to a more positive psychology, researchers have demonstrated a relatively new and intense fascination with humility. Following a discussion of this construct and its correlates, we investigate how humility relates to personality dimensions, anxiety and depression, love of life and happiness, and self-efficacy in two samples-college students and adult Mturk workers. In both studies, we used the Dual Dimension Humility Scale, a measure that does not conflate the construct with honesty. Among students (N = 399), aspects humility correlated with dimensions of personality (more conscientiousness and openness, and less agreeableness and neuroticism), less depression, more love of life and happiness, and stronger social self-efficacy. Although fewer associations were found, overall, among adults (N = 509), aspects of humility correlated with dimensions of personality, less anxiety, and some dimensions of psychological well-being. The most unique contributions of this study include linking humility with college students' love of life and self-efficacy, and with adults' well-being. We conclude with a discussion of ideas for future research and potential applications to boost humility.
Subject(s)
Personality Disorders , Personality , Adult , Humans , Happiness , Anxiety , Neuroticism , Personality InventoryABSTRACT
Moral conviction predicts interpersonal tolerance in adults, but its role in children and adolescents is not as well understood. This study measured moral conviction for a variety of issues along two separate dimensions - cognitive and affective - in children and adolescents (4th-12th grade). Results showed that, like adults, when children and adolescents view an issue as moral, this is strongly predictive of both age groups' discomfort with divergent beliefs. But only for adolescents, and not children, did moral conviction play a role in that discomfort, as had previously been found with adults. The context in which the divergent beliefs were encountered also mattered, but more for adolescents than for children - both groups were most comfortable with divergent beliefs when they were encountered in distal relations.
