The Impact Of Stereotypes On Moral Decision Making:The Role Of Empathy

Moral decision-making refers to when an individual is faced with many alternative behavioral paths,based on these possible behavioral paths,make a choice between right and wrong and moral process and then make the final choice.Individuals are easily influenced by cognition and emotions in making moral decisions.Some studies have also found that stereotypes have a certain impact on individual emotional processing and cognitive processing.Based on the previous research,this study takes junior high school students as the research object,adopts the moral dilemma paradigm,and uses two studies to explore the impact of stereotypes on moral decision-making,and the role of empathy traits and empathy status.In Study 1,the empathy traits of 296 subjects were measured by the Interpersonal Response Index Scale(IRI),and the high and low empathy traits were grouped.Then the two groups of subjects completed moral decision-making tasks.The subjects needed to decide whether to help The object.This study explores the differences in stereotypes’ impact on moral decision-making between high and low empathy traits.The results found that:(1)The main effect of stereotypes is significant,and individuals are more willing to help high-enthusiasm and high-ability objects,but less willing to help low-enthusiasm and low-ability groups;(2)The main effect of empathy traits is significant,Compared with individuals with low empathy traits,individuals with high empathy traits show more help tendencies;(3)The interaction between stereotypes and empathy traits is significant,and individuals are affected by stereotypes when making moral decisions.The impact will vary depending on the individual empathy traits.Specifically,individuals with high empathy traits are only affected by the passion dimension in stereotypes,while individuals with low empathy traits are affected by both the passion dimension and the ability dimension in stereotypes.influences.In Study 2,the empathy traits of 290 subjects were first measured by the Interpersonal Response Index Scale(IRI),and 290 subjects were divided into a start-up group and a control group under the premise of no significant difference in controlling empathy traits;Then induce the empathy state through the situation,start the group to watch the empathy video(induced high empathy state),the control group watch the news broadcast;then measure the empathy response of the subjects;the last two groups of subjects completed the moral decision task Try to feel whether you can help the object.This study examines the impact of stereotypes on moral decision-making under different empathy states.The resultsfound that:(1)the main effect of stereotypes is also significant.Compared with helping low-enthusiasm and low-ability groups,individuals are more willing to help high-enthusiasm and high-ability objects;(2)the main effect of empathy is significant Individuals who induce a high empathy state tend to help more than individuals who induce a low empathy state;(3)The interaction between stereotypes and empathy states is significant.Individuals are not only affected by stereotypes when making moral decisions.Individual empathy State also affects this process.Individuals with high empathy status are more inclined to help those with high enthusiasm-low ability groups,while individuals with low empathy traits are affected by both the dimension of enthusiasm and the dimension of ability in stereotypes.Studies have shown that(1)stereotypes have a significant impact on moral decisions.Individuals will consider the enthusiasm dimension first,and then the ability dimension,and are most willing to help the objects of the high enthusiasm-high ability group;(2)There are significant differences in moral decision-making between high and low empathy traits and empathy status.Compared with subjects with low empathy traits and low empathy,subjects with high empathy traits and high empathy showed more altruistic moral choices;(3)Trait empathy and state empathy were both in Stereotypes play a role in the impact of moral decisions.Individuals with high empathy traits and high empathy traits are more willing to help stereotyped objects in high-enthusiasm groups;individuals with low empathy traits and low empathy status first consider the thermal dimension,and secondly the ability dimension.The results of this study will provide a reference for people to reveal the influencing factors of moral decision-making,and help people make more appropriate decisions when facing similar situations.From this study,I also gained some inspirations about promoting students ’moral decision-making:(1)Overcoming stereotypes and forming healthy,equal,open,and inclusive concepts;(2)Improving empathy and learning to think empathically;(3)Pay attention to moral education and promote rational moral decision-making.