Shared Reality or Shared Illusions? Evaluating Moral Impressions

Moral impressions are some of the most consequential opinions people have about themselves and others. Morality is at the core of identity (Strohminger Nichols, 2014), and drives many interpersonal interactions such as cooperation (Delgado, Frank, Phelps, 2005) and affiliation (Bukowski Sippola, 1998). Yet, little is known about the extent to which these moral impressions are grounded in reality or if they are only held as idiosyncratic impressions. The current investigation evaluated how people see their own and other’s moral character, if these moral impressions are shared, and if a shared understanding of moral character is adaptive. First, I developed and tested a measurement model for assessing self- and other-impressions of morality which removes a global evaluative bias from moral impressions (Studies 1 and 2). Second, I evaluated if self- and other-impressions are grounded in a shared social reality (i.e. self-other agreement and inter-judge consensus) and/or grounded in observable behavior (Study 3). Third, I evaluated if sharing a social reality for moral impressions has interpersonal consequences for the self (Study 4). This work sheds light on the extent to which morality is in the eye of the beholder and the adaptiveness of holding shared moral impressions. Additionally, this work has implications for the assessment of moral character and the adaptiveness of self-knowledge.Ph.D