The Influence Of Moral Contagion On Moral Judgment

Moral contagion is a process of comprehensive changes in individual physical feelings,emotional states and other aspects through direct or indirect contact with the source of moral quality contagion.So,when facing all kinds of immoral events in the present era,will moral contagion cause the change of individual moral judgment level?Based on the dual system theory of moral judgment,moral judgment includes two systems: moral intuition and moral reasoning.Does moral contagion have a certain difference in the influence of individual system one-moral intuition judgment and system two-moral reasoning judgment? This research is of great significance to enrich the theoretical thinking of moral psychology or guide the actual teaching process of moral education.First of all,study one and study two respectively discuss the influence of immoral contagion and positive moral contagion on individual moral intuitive judgment and moral reasoning judgment.Then,according to the research results of study one and study two,the third study further investigates the relationship between moral contagion and moral reasoning judgement under the involvement of self-interest so as to improve the ecological validity of the research.Results show that:(1)Compared with the control group,the individuals in the immoral contagion group are more inclined to make moral intuitive judgment and show a more strict level of moral reasoning judgment;(2)Immoral contagion will lead to a higher level of disgust and guilt for person;(3)Compared with the control group,the subjects in the positive moral contagion group showed moral intuition obviously,but there was no significant difference in moral reasoning between the two groups;(4)Positive moral contagion stimulates the individual’s high sense of moral improvement.Further intermediary tests show that the sense of moral improvement does not play an obvious intermediary role in positive moral contagion and moral intuition;(5)Self interest involvement plays a moderating role between immoral contagion and moral reasoning judgment.When the individual’s self-interest involvement level is high,the influence of immoral infection on individual moral reasoning will be significantly reduced.Conclusion: Both immoral contagion and positive moral contagion will affect moral judgment,but there are some differences.Moral intuition was significantly affected by two different infections,whereas moral reasoning became more severe only under immoral transmission.Furthermore,self interest involvement played a significant moderating role in immoral transmission and moral reasoning.