#moralpsychology — Public Fediverse posts

Call: “Toronto Workshop on Moral Psychology and Moral Theory”

Organized by Andrew Sepielli, the “Toronto Workshop on Moral Psychology and Moral Theory” will take place at the University of Toronto from November 7 to 8, 2026.

Submissions for contributions can be submitted until July 1, 2026. The call reads:

The workshop aims to bring together philosophers, psychologists, and legal scholars working on questions about the relationship between empirical research on moral cognition and the foundations of moral theory. The goal is to foster interdisciplinary discussion about how empirical work in fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory bears on moral judgment and the evaluation of moral beliefs.

Invited speakers include:

• Paul Bloom (Psychology, University of Toronto / Yale University)
• Joshua Knobe (Philosophy and Psychology, Yale University)
• Liane Young (Psychology, Boston College)
• Roseanna Sommers (Law and Psychology, University of Michigan)
• Brendan de Kenessey (Philosophy, University of Toronto)

We invite submissions addressing topics at the intersection of empirical research and moral theory. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

• experimental philosophy
• the psychology of moral cognition
• causal cognition and moral judgment
• the neuroscience of moral judgment
• evolutionary approaches to morality
• empirical work bearing on normative ethics or metaethics
• methodological questions about the role of empirical research in moral theory
• debunking arguments and related challenges to moral belief

Five contributed papers will be selected. Contributed talks will consist of a 45-minute presentation followed by 45 minutes of discussion. The workshop is designed to be discussion-focused, with substantial time devoted to questions and conversation about each paper.

We welcome submissions from scholars in philosophy, psychology, law, and related disciplines. Submissions from early-career scholars are especially encouraged.

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit an abstract of 750–1000 words, along with a brief CV, to: [email protected] 

Submissions should not be anonymized.

Important Dates:

Submission deadline: July 1, 2026

Notification of decisions: August 1, 2026

Limited support for travel and accommodation may be available.

Questions about the workshop may be directed to the conference organizer, Andrew Sepielli (Philosophy, University of Toronto), at: [email protected]

I'm not really a fan of religion of talking about, but sometimes I get caught up in it.
https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/31/%cf%80%ce%b1%cf%81%ce%b8%ce%ad%ce%bd%ce%bf%cf%82/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social
Today, we're discussing παρθένος.
#religion #christianity #philosophy #society #consent #perceotion #moralpsychology #morality #morals #politics #belief #history #blog #bible #hermeneutics #translation #interpretation #rendering #narrative #storytelling #fiction #nonfiction #ancienthistory #language

I'm not really a fan of religion of talking about, but sometimes I get caught up in it.
https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/31/%cf%80%ce%b1%cf%81%ce%b8%ce%ad%ce%bd%ce%bf%cf%82/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social
Today, we're discussing παρθένος.
#religion #christianity #philosophy #society #consent #perceotion #moralpsychology #morality #morals #politics #belief #history #blog #bible #hermeneutics #translation #interpretation #rendering #narrative #storytelling #fiction #nonfiction #ancienthistory #language

I'm not really a fan of religion of talking about, but sometimes I get caught up in it.
https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/31/%cf%80%ce%b1%cf%81%ce%b8%ce%ad%ce%bd%ce%bf%cf%82/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social
Today, we're discussing παρθένος.
#religion #christianity #philosophy #society #consent #perceotion #moralpsychology #morality #morals #politics #belief #history #blog #bible #hermeneutics #translation #interpretation #rendering #narrative #storytelling #fiction #nonfiction #ancienthistory #language

I'm not really a fan of religion of talking about, but sometimes I get caught up in it.
https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/31/%cf%80%ce%b1%cf%81%ce%b8%ce%ad%ce%bd%ce%bf%cf%82/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social
Today, we're discussing παρθένος.
#religion #christianity #philosophy #society #consent #perceotion #moralpsychology #morality #morals #politics #belief #history #blog #bible #hermeneutics #translation #interpretation #rendering #narrative #storytelling #fiction #nonfiction #ancienthistory #language

I'm not really a fan of religion of talking about, but sometimes I get caught up in it.
https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/31/%cf%80%ce%b1%cf%81%ce%b8%ce%ad%ce%bd%ce%bf%cf%82/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social
Today, we're discussing παρθένος.
#religion #christianity #philosophy #society #consent #perceotion #moralpsychology #morality #morals #politics #belief #history #blog #bible #hermeneutics #translation #interpretation #rendering #narrative #storytelling #fiction #nonfiction #ancienthistory #language

Workplace bullying is not only a productivity problem but a moral test—and this paper argues that bystanders are more likely to act constructively when guided by conscience (synderesis) than by consequence-based ethics alone.

Feel free to give it a read.
Vveinhardt J, Deikus M. Synderesis vs. Consequentialism and Utilitarianism in Workplace Bullying Prevention. Social Inclusion 2025, 13, 8406. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.8406

#WorkplaceBullying #Mobbing #BusinessEthics #MoralPsychology #OpenScience

Call: “Valence Asymmetries”

Isidora Stojanovic, Lorenza D’Angelo, Morgan Moyer, and Michelle Stankovic organizing a conference on “Valence Asymmetries,” which will take place at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra from March 19 to 20, 2026.

Abstracts for presentations can be submitted until September 10. The call reads:

The Valence Asymmetries ERC team is happy to announce that it will be organizing the first VALENCE ASYMMETRIES conference on March 19th–20th 2026 at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. The event is funded by Isidora Stojanovic’s ERC Advanced Grant “Valence Asymmetries: the positive, the negative, the good and the bad in language, mind and morality” (GA n° 101142133).

This interdisciplinary event will discuss themes which are central to the Valence Asymmetries project, including the role of valence asymmetries in perception, emotion, morality, language, and communication. Discussion will draw upon insights from philosophy, psychology, and linguistics.

There will be invited talks by Hans Alves, Frederique de Vignemont, Saif Mohammad, and Pascale Willemsen. There is also room for 4–6 additional talks, to be selected from open submissions. Each selected talk will be assigned a 50 min slot, including discussion.

We especially encourage submissions on the relation between value, valence, and polarity; theoretical and empirical accounts of valence asymmetries in language, including in negative strengthening, scalar inferences, and irony; the asymmetry between virtue and vice, and between praise and blame, in normative and applied ethics; as well as other discussions of valence asymmetries in linguistics, cognitive science, moral psychology, and cognate areas.

If you are interested in presenting your work at this venue, please submit a 2-page abstract to [email protected] by Sep 30th, with the subject line “valence asymmetries submission.”

#Asymmetry #Blame #CognitiveScience #Linguistics #MoralPsychology #Polarity #Praise #Valence #Values #Vice #Virtue

Reflective reasoning enhances norm sensitivity in moral dilemmas https://www.psypost.org/reflective-reasoning-enhances-norm-sensitivity-in-moral-dilemmas/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #MoralPsychology #ReflectiveReasoning #MoralDilemmas #Ethics #DecisionMaking

Do moral dilemmas elicit competing intuitions? Not in all countries

Consider two options:
- Reduce great harm even when that requires causing a smaller amount of harm (a la utilitarianism)
- Do no harm, even when that allows more harm than necessary (a la deontology)

In the U.S., the moral appropriateness of utilitarian and deontological options correlated NEGATIVELY, but in China they correlated POSITIVELY!

https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241289459

#ethics #culture #MoralPsychology #statistics #cogSci #philosophy #xPhi

Moral comparisons of utilitarian tradeoffs depended on the rating protocol?

Participants rated pairs of utilitarian tradeoffs. Relative differences for each pair depended on
- whether participants saw both tradeoffs at the same time or separately.
- whether the rating was comparative or quantitative.

Sometimes (although not most of the time), the average relative difference for one protocol reversed in the other protocol!

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105919

#SurveyMethods #xPhi #ethics #moralPsychology

Does studying economics turn students "into unscrupulous calculating machines"?

In "a sample of #Polish undergraduate students of #Economics (N=408) and #Sociology (N=123) ...we observed that the choices of more advanced #economists-to-be [we]re more #deontological (grounded in norms) than #utilitarian (grounded in benefits) [suggesting] that economic education does not...."

http://dx.doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2024/17-2/5

#ethics #moralPsychology #xPhi #higherEd

Are there social class differences in moral decision-making?

When dissociating anti-social from deontological and utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas, social class predicted differences in the latter two response patterns among thousands of German speakers — the class differences in utilitarian thinking were partially mediated by reflection and empathic concern.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1391214

#ethics #psychology #MoralPsychology #xPhi #philosophy #Demography #Metaphilosophy

How does disgust impact judgments about criminality? Does legal expertise matter?

In an online study of over 1400 laypeople and legal professionals a “virtual child pornography vignette (characterized as low in harm, high in disgust) was criminalized more readily than the financial harm vignette (high in harm, low in disgust), and (b) disgust sensitivity was associated with the decision to criminalize”.

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02842-8

#law #xPhi #xJur #moralPsychology #philosophy #expertise #edu

What brain areas have been particularly active in deliberate, reflective thinking?

An “activation likelihood estimation (ALE) #metaAnalysis [that] investigate[d] the neural foundation of the dual-process theory of thought …converged on the medial frontal cortex, superior frontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and left inferior frontal gyrus.”

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14010101

#neuroscience #psychology #moralPsychology #cogSci #xPhi #neuroImaging #fMRI #dualProcessTheory

Helping behavior (Evolutionary biology 🧬)

Helping behavior refers to voluntary actions intended to help others, with reward regarded or disregarded. It is a type of prosocial behavior. Altruism is distinguished from helping behavior in this way: Altruism refers to prosocial behaviors that are carried out without expectation of obtaining external reward or internal reward. An ex...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helping_behavior

#HelpingBehavior #Assistance #MoralPsychology #EvolutionaryBiology

How should we engage in controversial public debates?

Like @jayvanbavel did (on other sites) today: with relevant arguments and evidence.

"People strongly condemn plagiarizers who steal credit for ideas, even when the theft in question does not appear to harm anyone"

https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12500

"These negative reactions are driven by people's aversion toward agents who attempt to falsely improve their reputations"

#Harvard #plagiarism #ethics #moralPsychology #law #xPhi #writing #research #WWJD

Like-Minded: Externalism and Moral Psychology

A proposal that the cognitive processes that make us moral agents are partially constituted by features of our external environments.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#MoralPsychology
#morality
#externalism

How Can Science Help Us Live Up to Our Moral Values?

There’s a dissertation for that: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8p0882jv (it’s #openAccess)

#Philosophy #MoralPsychology #dualProcessTheory #Pragmatism #Politics

#Introduction

Hey Mastodon community!

I'm an Assistant Professor at #GordonCollege

My research examines lifespan changes in the prioritization of and memory for social and emotional content, and how these changes relate to moral cognition.

I'm looking forward to meeting people interested in these topics on this platform!

#Memory #Morality
#Psychology #MoralPsychology #CognitiveScience #CognitiveAging #fMRI #Neuroscience #CognitiveNeuroscience #BrainNetworks

#introduction

Hi! I'm Ness (she/they) :100_gay: :_gaysparkle:. I'm an #interdisciplinary #gradstudent at #uvic in #philosophy and law. My #thesis is a #feminist intervention of the subjugation of female cows in spaces of #canadian intensive dairy production. I've been working on this for far too long! AOI/S include #feministphilosophy #feministlegaltheory #criticalanimalstudies #ethics #moralpsychology #ecofeminism #disability and most #leftie discourse. My bestie is Zelda, the border collie.

"Deontological and absolutist moral dilemma judgments convey self-righteousness" in U.S., German-speaking, and British participants (N = 1254).

In the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104505

#ProcessDissociation #DecisionScience #psychMethods #moralPsychology #xPhi

ICYMI, Moral Responsibility Reconsidered by Gregg Caruso and Derk Pereboom | http://nebula.wsimg.com/7fded12950a4b029ee683a12fa771b4b?AccessKeyId=57C0F200619988621A8D&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 | #OpenAccess #Philosophy #FreeWill #MoralResponsibility #MoralPsychology @philosophy #Blame #Anger #Punishment

The Next International Moral Psychology (IMP) Seminar Series talks will take place on Monday 2nd of October at 12pm (EST).

Looking forward to flashtalk from Brandon Bretl and main talk from Niels Skovgaard-Olsen

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rb-4ns9qTKaUlyQFgoemiw

With @DrMeltemYucel and Jim Everett

#MoralPsychology #Psychology

Chronological feeds reduced political engagement on Facebook and Instagram (compared to the default feed algorithm) during 3 months of the 2020 U.S. election.

However, leaving the default feed algorithm for the reverse chronological feed “did not significantly alter levels of issue polarization, affective polarization, political knowledge”.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp9364

#socialMedia #politics #psychology #epistemology #moralPsychology #UX 

Switched servers so reposting an introduction

I am a #moral #psychologist (in @UL ) interested in the cognitive processes underlying our moral judgments. Also interested in #ecological #psychology and understanding #behaviour in #context. #openscience advocate and #rstats #r user.

Ouside of work I play #music including #guitar #harmonica and #songwriting. I enjoy #chess and #running (but have been inconsistent of late) and #walking
I also have 2 #cats

#moralpsychology #morality

Outstanding #dissertation!

Trivia #games reduced #polarization?!

Playing the game with a partner that disagree about #politics improved people's feelings towards the out-party for up to 4 months!
- even one-player versions of the game worked!
- adding *political* trivia questions *helped*!

"As one participant put it, the game... 'gives me further hope that we can work with others no matter what divides us.'"

https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37375776

#MoralPsychology #CogSci #xPhi

Is it wrong to eat meat? End a pregnancy? Buy luxury goods?

A Moral Philosophy course changed students' views about these questions AND the degree to which students reported answering based on "deliberation/analysis" or "intuition/emotion".

But it was reduced reliance on intuition/emotion (not increased reliance on deliberation/analysis) that explained changes in students' ethical views!

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105434

#xPhi #Psychology #DecisionScience #CogSci #HigherEd #Ethics #MoralPsychology

Gender- and country-level differences in the “consequences, norms, generalized inaction” (CNI) battery of moral dilemmas.

That is, there were some differences in the C, N, and I parameters of men and women from Japan, China, and "English" or "Western" contexts (N ≅ 600).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04662-6

#ethics #moralPsychology #xPhi #DemographicDifferences

3 minute moral psychology survey!

Read about 4 characters, and rate them on 5 dimensions (also some demographic and attention questions).

Go on! You know you want to!

#morality #moralpsychology #research

https://unioflimerick.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7X0bIQKbboJUrXM

Performance on the cognitive reflection test and base rate neglect tests (Analytic cognitive style) did not significantly predict moral judgments about "disgust-eliciting vignettes" (above and beyond other factors) in about 400 Swedish participants.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1746435/FULLTEXT01.pdf

#MoralPsychology #DualProcessTheory #xPhi #DecisionScience #Ethics #MoralFoundationsTheory

"Ecospirituality" was associated with preferring principle/rule-based moral thinking over cost-benefit moral thinking—moreso in two US samples than a similarly sized a Canadian sample (Ns ≅ 475).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102001

#moralPsychology #Religion #EnvironmentalEthics #xPhi #Philososphy #DecisionScience

Students' moral judgments of trolley problem decisions seemed to depend not only on the decision (cause some harm or don't), but also the decision-maker (human vs. AI), and the problem type (standard vs. footbridge).

(Ns ≅ 200)

https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13020181

#ethics #AI #moralPsychology #moralDilemma #xPhi #cogSci #psychology #philosophy

🚨New paper in #Collabra
with @MarekMcGann @EricIgou & Elaine Kinsella

In a #moral #dumbfounding task, participants were less likely to give reasons while under cognitive load (in 3 out of 4 scenarios).

#moralpsychology

https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.73818

New paper alert:
Evidence for Moral Dumbfounding in 3 previously unstudied populations.

4 years in the works, 3 studies: 2 Masters students projects (Run Zhang & Tanuja Karnatak) and an a collaboration with 2 colleagues in Dubai (Nishtha Lamba & Olga Khokhlova).

Delighted to finally share this!

https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13421-022-01386-z

@psychology
#Psychology #morality #moralpsychology #SocPsych

#introduction #Introductions

Hi everyone 👋! I've just joined Mastodon.

I'm a lecturer (assistant prof) in psych & my research is in #moralpsychology. I use #virtualreality in the lab to simulate various moral/social dilemmas to study moral action. I'm also an experimental philosophy poser #xphi doing research on #morality #epistemology #bioethics. Mega advocate for #openscience! Looking forward to connecting with the academic community here! #psychology #virtualrealitycommunity #philosophy

Depressive symptoms associated with lower levels of deontological response patterns on (process dissociation) moral dilemma batteries (N = 70)—an effect that may explain correlations between depression level and so-called utilitarian response patterns on (traditional sacrificial) moral dilemmas (N > 1700):

Open access article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24473-2

#MoralPsychology #Psychiatry #Ethics #Philosophy #xPhi #DualProcessTheory #Dilemma

Performance on the cognitive reflection test and base rate neglect tests (Analytic cognitive style) did not significantly predict moral judgments about "disgust-eliciting vignettes" (above and beyond other factors) in about 400 Swedish participants.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1746435/FULLTEXT01.pdf

#MoralPsychology #DualProcessTheory #xPhi #DecisionScience #Ethics #MoralFoundationsTheory

Performance on the cognitive reflection test and base rate neglect tests (Analytic cognitive style) did not significantly predict moral judgments about "disgust-eliciting vignettes" (above and beyond other factors) in about 400 Swedish participants.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1746435/FULLTEXT01.pdf

#MoralPsychology #DualProcessTheory #xPhi #DecisionScience #Ethics #MoralFoundationsTheory

Performance on the cognitive reflection test and base rate neglect tests (Analytic cognitive style) did not significantly predict moral judgments about "disgust-eliciting vignettes" (above and beyond other factors) in about 400 Swedish participants.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1746435/FULLTEXT01.pdf

#MoralPsychology #DualProcessTheory #xPhi #DecisionScience #Ethics #MoralFoundationsTheory

Performance on the cognitive reflection test and base rate neglect tests (Analytic cognitive style) did not significantly predict moral judgments about "disgust-eliciting vignettes" (above and beyond other factors) in about 400 Swedish participants.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1746435/FULLTEXT01.pdf

#MoralPsychology #DualProcessTheory #xPhi #DecisionScience #Ethics #MoralFoundationsTheory

🚨New paper in #Collabra
with @MarekMcGann @EricIgou & Elaine Kinsella

In a #moral #dumbfounding task, participants were less likely to give reasons while under cognitive load (in 3 out of 4 scenarios).

#moralpsychology

https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.73818

🚨New paper in #Collabra
with @MarekMcGann @EricIgou & Elaine Kinsella

In a #moral #dumbfounding task, participants were less likely to give reasons while under cognitive load (in 3 out of 4 scenarios).

#moralpsychology

https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.73818

🚨New paper in #Collabra
with @MarekMcGann @EricIgou & Elaine Kinsella

In a #moral #dumbfounding task, participants were less likely to give reasons while under cognitive load (in 3 out of 4 scenarios).

#moralpsychology

https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.73818

🚨New paper in #Collabra
with @MarekMcGann @EricIgou & Elaine Kinsella

In a #moral #dumbfounding task, participants were less likely to give reasons while under cognitive load (in 3 out of 4 scenarios).

#moralpsychology

https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.73818