Maksymalizm moralny w percepcji młodzieży i seniorów

The moral maximalism in the perception of youth and seniors The study presented in the paper based on psychological and sociological research trends. They refer to interpersonal perception, formulation of interpersonal evaluations and positive deviation. The goal of the paper is a presenting of the moral maximalism as one of the indications of positive deviation.Presented research is particular stage in answering the questions: What is the place and role of the extreme positive phenomenon in the present world? What kind of psychological mechanisms explain the most typical social reactions to these phenomena? In the study 405 subject participated. They were divided into two groups (255 – students, age 15–19, and 150 old people, age 55–91). In the research there was used the list of 52 social behaviours constructed on the basis of Questionnaire of Ethics (Wojciszke, Baryła, 2002). The study extracted 15 behaviours from the evaluation list that fulfil the criterions of moral maximalism. The study also showed that there are differences between group of young and old people in the evaluation of analysed behaviours. Old people evaluated more positively behaviours representing moral maximalism. There are also differences in the evaluation of behaviours representing particular ethical codes: ethic of autonomy, ethic of dignity and ethic of common good. Ethic of autonomy was most positively evaluated