The interplay of mental states and moral cognition

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Moral cognition refers to evaluative judgments about inter-individual actions that require an understanding of one’s intentions, often referred to as mental state knowledge. Across development, children increasingly rely on information about mental states to determine whether particular behaviors are right or wrong. This interplay is often challenging given that both morality and mental state knowledge become more complex with age. This symposium brings together four speakers with extensive expertise in children's moral judgments and mental-state reasoning to discuss the interplay of mental states and moral cognition.

Paper 1 investigated how children and adults seek information about why pro-social behaviors and transgressions occurred when intent is unclear. Whereas older children and adults sought information about the intent underlying moral transgressions, younger children did not prefer to seek information about either. Paper 2 explores how children use victims' sadness to make fairness judgments about inequality. Both fairness judgments and beliefs about another’s sadness varied by 1st or 3rd person perspective, and prior experiences of disadvantage mediated this effect. Paper 3 finds that an individual’s beliefs about a target's true self influence moral judgments about that target, even when considering evidence that contradicts those beliefs. In addition, people’s ‘fit’ (whether they felt good doing good things) predicted beliefs about their true self more than did other emotions. The 4th presentation is from the discussant who has conducted international research on morality and mental state knowledge and will reflect on the interplay of moral cognition and mental states with recommendations for future research directions.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chair

• Daniel Yonas, Columbia University

Discussant

• Melanie A. Killen, University of Maryland - College Park

Individual Presentations

• Children's and adults' information-seeking behavior about morally relevant actions - Presenting Author: Daniel Yonas, Columbia University; Larisa Heiphetz Solomon, Columbia University

• Perspective-dependent emotions shape children’s judgments of fairness - Presenting Author: Peter R. Blake, Boston University; Zoe Wilson, Boston University; Lucy Stowe, University of California - Davis; Rebecca Peretz-Lange, SUNY Purchase

• The impact of moral judgment on happiness attributions in children and adults - Presenting Author: Joshua Knobe, Yale University; Fan Yang; Yarrow C Dunham, Yale University; Michael Prinzing, Yale University