Construal-Level Theory and Intuitive Morality: How Processing States Shape Moral Judgments of Media Content

• In Event: Media and Morality

Abstract

The Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars (MIME) predicts a mutual dependency between the moral scrutiny of mediated narratives and media exposure. This study proposes that moral judgments of media content are not only related to baseline moral domain salience and exemplars, but also to the immediate cognitive environment of the individual at the moment of exposure. An experiment manipulating construal-level orientation prior to exposure to a mediated narrative was conducted to test this proposal. The results suggest that evaluations of moral violations are indeed modulated by current cognitive processing state. The findings indicate the need for an adjustment to the MIME model to allow for general cognitive states to interact with moral domain salience and moral judgments of media content. They also suggest that the strength and quality of moral intuitions are not robust to broader cognitive processes, but interact with them.

Authors

• Nicholas A. Lester, U of California - Santa Barbara

• Rene Weber, U of California - Santa Barbara