- 224 Uris Hall
Department of Psychology
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853 - 607-255-3835
David A. Pizarro
Cornell University, Psychology, Faculty Member
- I am currently an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. My primary research inte... moreI am currently an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. My primary research interests are in moral judgment (one of the most exciting areas of psychology, in my humble opinion; you can now find a bunch of us talking about the topic at a recent seminar on the topic here at the edge.org website), the effects of emotion on judgment, and on the overlap between these two. In my lab in the psychology department at Cornell, we also study a wide range of topics involving emotion, judgment, and behavior. You can see a detailed description of my research and a full list of my publications at www.peezer.net.edit
An important consideration in judging the blameworthiness (or praiseworthiness) of an action is whether the agent had sufficient control over it. In three experiments, we investigated judgments of moral blame and praise elicited when... more
An important consideration in judging the blameworthiness (or praiseworthiness) of an action is whether the agent had sufficient control over it. In three experiments, we investigated judgments of moral blame and praise elicited when individuals were presented with vignettes describing actions that were performed either carefully and deliberately or impulsively and uncontrollably. Experiment 1 uncovered an asymmetry between judgments of positive versus negative actions--negative impulsive actions elicited a discounting of moral blame, but positive impulsive actions did not elicit a discounting of moral praise. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that this asymmetry arises because individuals judge agents on the basis of their metadesires (the degree to which the agents embrace or reject the impulses leading to their actions). Individuals assume that an agent would embrace an uncontrollable positive impulse, and reject an uncontrollable negative impulse.
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There is perhaps no other science (with the possible exception of quantum mechanics) that wreaks havoc on our intuitions the way neuroscience does. The growing knowledge it provides about the inner workings of the brain seems to threaten... more
There is perhaps no other science (with the possible exception of quantum mechanics) that wreaks havoc on our intuitions the way neuroscience does. The growing knowledge it provides about the inner workings of the brain seems to threaten some of our most deeply held intuitions about how the mind works. Of particular concern to many is that learning how the brain works will necessarily cause us to alter the way we think about human freedom and moral responsibility. If our thoughts and feelings are governed by the same basic laws ...
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Moral judgments are important, intuitive, and complex. These factors make moral judgment particularly fertile ground for motivated reasoning. This chapter reviews research (both our own and that of others) examining two general pathways... more
Moral judgments are important, intuitive, and complex. These factors make moral judgment particularly fertile ground for motivated reasoning. This chapter reviews research (both our own and that of others) examining two general pathways by which motivational forces can alter the moral implications of an act: by affecting perceptions of an actor's moral accountability for the act, and by influencing the normative moral principles people rely on to evaluate the morality of the act. We conclude by discussing the implications of research on motivated moral reasoning for both classic and contemporary views of the moral thinker.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Adolescent, Intention, Motivation, and 10 moreHumans, Judgment, Character, Female, Male, European Public Law, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, and Morals
Abstract Ego-justifying, group-justifying, and system-justifying motivations contribute to base-rate respect. People tend to neglect (and use) base rates when doing so allows them to draw desired conclusions about matters such as their... more
Abstract Ego-justifying, group-justifying, and system-justifying motivations contribute to base-rate respect. People tend to neglect (and use) base rates when doing so allows them to draw desired conclusions about matters such as their health, the traits of their in-groups, and the fairness of the social system. Such motivations can moderate whether people rely on the rule-based versus associative strategies identified by Barbey & Sloman (B&S).
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Researchers have recently argued that utilitarianism is the appropriate framework by which to evaluate moral judgment, and that individuals who endorse non-utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas (involving active vs. passive harm) are... more
Researchers have recently argued that utilitarianism is the appropriate framework by which to evaluate moral judgment, and that individuals who endorse non-utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas (involving active vs. passive harm) are committing an error. We report a study in which participants responded to a battery of personality assessments and a set of dilemmas that pit utilitarian and non-utilitarian options against each other. Participants who indicated greater endorsement of utilitarian solutions had higher scores on measures of Psychopathy, machiavellianism, and life meaninglessness. These results question the widely-used methods by which lay moral judgments are evaluated, as these approaches lead to the counterintuitive conclusion that those individuals who are least prone to moral errors also possess a set of psychological characteristics that many would consider prototypically immoral.► Participants high in psychopathy gave more utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas. ► Participants with traits indicative of negative moral character were more utilitarian. ► Researchers should not equate utilitarian responses to dilemmas with optimal morality.
Research Interests: Ethics, Moral Psychology, Behavioral Sciences, Decision Making, Personality, and 32 moreJudgment and decision making, Human Values, Values, Cognition, Personality Assessment, Intuition, Behavioral Decision Making, Psychopathology, Morality (Social Psychology), Ethical Theory, Moral Development, Utilitarianism, Moral Philosophy, Moral and Cognitive Reasoning, Psychopathy, Emotions, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Problem Solving, Moral Dilemmas, Humans, Judgment, Moral Judgment, Machiavellianism, Morality, Reasoning, Female, Male, Personality Traits, Adult, Morals, Emotions Social Psychology, and Personality Trait
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Chapter 6, pp. 177–201 in Reason and Creativity in Cognitive Development, edited by James Kaufman and John Baer. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Research Interests: Emotion, Mathematics, Philosophy, Logic, Art, and 66 moreCreativity, Intelligence, Cognitive development, Educational Psychology, Cognition, Mozart, Knowledge Systems, Viola, Arts, Gifted Education, Darwin, Alexithymia, Israel, Trauma, Domain Specific Languages, Knowledge, Rationality, Insight, Thinking, Moral Reasoning, Reasoning, Reason, Light, Theories, Art Theory and Criticism, Oppression, SNOW, Painters, Darwinian theory, Picasso, Fiedler, Gestalt, Einstein, Kohlberg, Singer, Storms, Hill, Logical Thinking, Bass, Reciprocal Altruism, Bloom, Milgram, Stern, Economic, Sculptor, S, H, M, P, E, C, U, N, R, L, G, T, J, A, Y, Q, Inhibitory, Converse, Weeks, Das, and Schematic
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ABSTRACT Recent work within psychology demonstrates that unconscious cognition plays a central role in the judgments and actions of individuals. We distinguish between two basic types unconscious social cognition: unconsciousness of the... more
ABSTRACT Recent work within psychology demonstrates that unconscious cognition plays a central role in the judgments and actions of individuals. We distinguish between two basic types unconscious social cognition: unconsciousness of the influences on judgments and actions, and unconscious of the mental states (ie, attitudes and feelings) that give rise to judgments and actions. Influence unconsciousness is corroborated by strong empirical evidence, but unconscious states are difficult to verify.
Abstract In two large samples (combined N= 31,045), we found a positive relationship between disgust sensitivity and political conservatism. This relationship held when controlling for a number of demographic variables as well as the “Big... more
Abstract In two large samples (combined N= 31,045), we found a positive relationship between disgust sensitivity and political conservatism. This relationship held when controlling for a number of demographic variables as well as the “Big Five” personality traits. Disgust sensitivity was also associated with more conservative voting in the 2008 US presidential election. In Study 2, we replicated the disgust sensitivity–conservatism relationship in an international sample of respondents from 121 different countries.
Yoel Inbar (yoel_inbar@ ksg. harvard. edu) is a post-doctoral researcher in the Decision Science Laboratory at Harvard University. His research interests are in the intersection of emotion, decisionmaking, and morality. In practice, that... more
Yoel Inbar (yoel_inbar@ ksg. harvard. edu) is a post-doctoral researcher in the Decision Science Laboratory at Harvard University. His research interests are in the intersection of emotion, decisionmaking, and morality. In practice, that means he spends much of his time thinking of new ways to make people disgusted. You can find out more about Yoel at his web site, http://yoelinbar. net.
Background: The emotion of disgust appears to promote psychological and behavioral avoidance, a dynamic that has significant implications in physical and psychological outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC). Patients, caregivers, and health... more
Background: The emotion of disgust appears to promote psychological and behavioral avoidance, a dynamic that has significant implications in physical and psychological outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC). Patients, caregivers, and health professionals alike are all potentially susceptible to responding with disgust and the associated avoidance. Objective: This article aimed to review the early-stage literature related to disgust and CRC, consider the clinical implications, and suggest an appropriate research agenda.
66• D'oh! The Psychology of the Simpsons were able to invent Prozac and Viagra without an explanation of how a material brain can produce the experience of sadness and lust. But, still, solving the mind-body problem remains a major... more
66• D'oh! The Psychology of the Simpsons were able to invent Prozac and Viagra without an explanation of how a material brain can produce the experience of sadness and lust. But, still, solving the mind-body problem remains a major preoccupation of both psychologists and philosophers; no science of the mind can be complete without it.
Three empirical studies document the intuitive spillover of moral taint from a person who engages in immoral acts to another individual who is related by ties of blood kinship. In Study 1, participants were more likely to recommend that... more
Three empirical studies document the intuitive spillover of moral taint from a person who engages in immoral acts to another individual who is related by ties of blood kinship. In Study 1, participants were more likely to recommend that the biological grandchild of a wrongdoer, compared to a non-biological grandchild, help the descendants of his grandfather's victims.
There is perhaps no other science (with the possible exception of quantum mechanics) that wreaks havoc on our intuitions the way neuroscience does. The growing knowledge it provides about the inner workings of the brain seems to threaten... more
There is perhaps no other science (with the possible exception of quantum mechanics) that wreaks havoc on our intuitions the way neuroscience does. The growing knowledge it provides about the inner workings of the brain seems to threaten some of our most deeply held intuitions about how the mind works. Of particular concern to many is that learning how the brain works will necessarily cause us to alter the way we think about human freedom and moral responsibility.
Abstract 1. Do people sometimes seek to atone for their transgressions by harming themselves physically? The current results suggest that they do. People who wrote about a past guilt-inducing event inflicted more intense electric shocks... more
Abstract 1. Do people sometimes seek to atone for their transgressions by harming themselves physically? The current results suggest that they do. People who wrote about a past guilt-inducing event inflicted more intense electric shocks on themselves than did those who wrote about feeling sad or about a neutral event. Moreover, the stronger the shocks that guilty participants administered to themselves, the more their feelings of guilt were alleviated.
David A. Pizarro and Roy Baumeister Superheroes aren't the only “super” people we're fascinated by. We're also fascinated by supervillains. To understand this fascination, David Pizarro and Roy Baumeister apply psychological research from... more
David A. Pizarro and Roy Baumeister Superheroes aren't the only “super” people we're fascinated by. We're also fascinated by supervillains. To understand this fascination, David Pizarro and Roy Baumeister apply psychological research from a variety of areas including the appeal of pornography, moral judgment-and decision-making, and why “evil” is perpetrated. Pizarro and Baumeister are a perfect duo to discuss this topic; their research includes work on moral judgments aggression, and self-defeating behaviors.
Abstract Despite the wealth of recent work implicating disgust as an emotion central to human morality, the nature of the causal relationship between disgust and moral judgment remains unclear. We distinguish between three related claims... more
Abstract Despite the wealth of recent work implicating disgust as an emotion central to human morality, the nature of the causal relationship between disgust and moral judgment remains unclear. We distinguish between three related claims regarding this relationship, and argue that the most interesting claim (that disgust is a moralizing emotion) is the one with the least empirical support.
JUST days before New York's Republican gubernatorial primary, Carl Paladino mailed out thousands of campaign ads impregnated with the smell of rotting garbage. Emblazoned wi th the message “Something Stinks in Albany” and photos of... more
JUST days before New York's Republican gubernatorial primary, Carl Paladino mailed out thousands of campaign ads impregnated with the smell of rotting garbage. Emblazoned wi th the message “Something Stinks in Albany” and photos of scandal-tainted New York Democrats like former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Representative Charles Rangel, the brochure attacked Mr. Paladino's rival, former Representative Rick Lazio, for being “liberal” and a part of the state's corrupt political system.
Abstract Because trusting strangers can entail high risk, an ability to infer a potential partner's trustworthiness would be highly advantageous. To date, however, little evidence indicates that humans are able to accurately assess the... more
Abstract Because trusting strangers can entail high risk, an ability to infer a potential partner's trustworthiness would be highly advantageous. To date, however, little evidence indicates that humans are able to accurately assess the cooperative intentions of novel partners by using nonverbal signals.
Abstract Recent work in social psychology and experimental philosophy has suggested that moral considerations (praise vs. blame) can influence judgments about the intentional status of an act, contradicting both lay and legal assumptions... more
Abstract Recent work in social psychology and experimental philosophy has suggested that moral considerations (praise vs. blame) can influence judgments about the intentional status of an act, contradicting both lay and legal assumptions about the relationship between theory of mind and morality. A corollary of this account suggests that different assessments of intentional action should emerge whenever people hold different moral values. Five studies validated this implication.
Abstract Moral judgments are important, intuitive, and complex. These factors make moral judgment particularly fertile ground for motivated reasoning. This chapter reviews research (both our own and that of others) examining two general... more
Abstract Moral judgments are important, intuitive, and complex. These factors make moral judgment particularly fertile ground for motivated reasoning. This chapter reviews research (both our own and that of others) examining two general pathways by which motivational forces can alter the moral implications of an act: by affecting perceptions of an actor's moral accountability for the act, and by influencing the normative moral principles people rely on to evaluate the morality of the act.
One of the standard instructions given by judges to members of the jury is that they should not allow any emotions of sympathy influence their judgments (Feigenson, 1997). These instructions reflect a fundamental assumption on the part of... more
One of the standard instructions given by judges to members of the jury is that they should not allow any emotions of sympathy influence their judgments (Feigenson, 1997). These instructions reflect a fundamental assumption on the part of our legal system that the presence of emotions in the deliberation process works against the goal of accurate judgments concerning moral blame. This assumption is by no means restricted to our legal system.
Researchers have recently argued that utilitarianism is the appropriate framework by which to evaluate moral judgment, and that individuals who endorse non-utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas (involving active vs. passive harm) are... more
Researchers have recently argued that utilitarianism is the appropriate framework by which to evaluate moral judgment, and that individuals who endorse non-utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas (involving active vs. passive harm) are committing an error. We report a study in which participants responded to a battery of personality assessments and a set of dilemmas that pit utilitarian and non-utilitarian options against each other.
Abstract Many moral codes place a special emphasis on bodily purity, and manipulations that directly target bodily purity have been shown to influence a variety of moral judgments. Across two studies, we demonstrated that reminders of... more
Abstract Many moral codes place a special emphasis on bodily purity, and manipulations that directly target bodily purity have been shown to influence a variety of moral judgments. Across two studies, we demonstrated that reminders of physical purity influence specific moral judgments regarding behaviors in the sexual domain as well as broad political attitudes.
Abstract It has been suggested that people attend to others' actions in the service of forming impressions of their underlying dispositions. If so, it follows that in considering others' morally relevant actions, social perceivers should... more
Abstract It has been suggested that people attend to others' actions in the service of forming impressions of their underlying dispositions. If so, it follows that in considering others' morally relevant actions, social perceivers should be responsive to accompanying cues that help illuminate actors' underlying moral character. This article examines one relevant cue that can characterize any decision process: the speed with which the decision is made. Two experiments show that actors who make an immoral decision quickly (vs.
Abstract 1. An induction of disgust can lead to more negative attitudes toward an entire social group: Participants who were exposed to a noxious ambient odor reported less warmth toward gay men.
There is a compelling simplicity to the theoretical approach to moral judgment proposed by Gray, Young, and Waytz (this issue; henceforth GYW). On their approach, all that is needed to account for the large body of empirical findings on... more
There is a compelling simplicity to the theoretical approach to moral judgment proposed by Gray, Young, and Waytz (this issue; henceforth GYW). On their approach, all that is needed to account for the large body of empirical findings on moral judgment is a description of the prototypical moral encounter—a moral agent who brings harm to a moral patient. This is what psychological theorizing ought to look like: explaining the observed complexity of a phenomenon by appealing to more basic, general, psychological mechanisms.
Abstract In order to make sense of an agent's morally-relevant actions, motives, and character, people engage in mindreading—attempts at inferring an agent's mental states. The present paper proposes a mindreading moral principles (MMP)... more
Abstract In order to make sense of an agent's morally-relevant actions, motives, and character, people engage in mindreading—attempts at inferring an agent's mental states. The present paper proposes a mindreading moral principles (MMP) account, which outlines a new route by which people mindread mental contents in order to evaluate agents' character. People attempt to mindread agents' moral principles—the mental antecedents that precede a morally-motivated action.
Abstract An important consideration in judging the blameworthiness (or praiseworthiness) of an action is whether the agent had sufficient control over it. In three experiments, we investigated judgments of moral blame and praise elicited... more
Abstract An important consideration in judging the blameworthiness (or praiseworthiness) of an action is whether the agent had sufficient control over it. In three experiments, we investigated judgments of moral blame and praise elicited when individuals were presented with vignettes describing actions that were performed either carefully and deliberately or impulsively and uncontrollably.
Human beings are deeply moral creatures. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the stories we tell. Literature, cinema, and television are replete with tales that (either literally or metaphorically) describe the battle between... more
Human beings are deeply moral creatures. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the stories we tell. Literature, cinema, and television are replete with tales that (either literally or metaphorically) describe the battle between good and evil, and tell the stories of the heroes and villains fighting for each side. But while we may root for the heroes, it is the villains that often capture most of our attention.
ABSTRACT-This Study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence, anxiety and depression among adolescents. Two hundred and fifty high-school students were administered the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), a self-report measure... more
ABSTRACT-This Study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence, anxiety and depression among adolescents. Two hundred and fifty high-school students were administered the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), a self-report measure of emotional intelligence, along with measures of thought suppression, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression.
Abstract Five studies demonstrated that people selectively use general moral principles to rationalize preferred moral conclusions. In Studies 1a and 1b, college students and community respondents were presented with variations on a... more
Abstract Five studies demonstrated that people selectively use general moral principles to rationalize preferred moral conclusions. In Studies 1a and 1b, college students and community respondents were presented with variations on a traditional moral scenario that asked whether it was permissible to sacrifice one innocent man in order to save a greater number of people.