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Regulatory focus as a predictor of omission bias in moral judgment: Mediating role of anticipated regrets
Author(s) -
Chung Eun Kyoung,
Kim Soo Jung,
Sohn Young Woo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asian journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-839X
pISSN - 1367-2223
DOI - 10.1111/ajsp.12060
Subject(s) - regret , judgement , psychology , regulatory focus theory , social psychology , focus (optics) , moral dilemma , dilemma , confirmation bias , moral disengagement , cognitive bias , epistemology , cognition , political science , law , optics , machine learning , neuroscience , creativity , computer science , philosophy , physics
Omission bias occurs when people are more reluctant to accept negative consequences caused by their actions than by their inaction. Recent research on omission bias in decision‐making has found evidence for individual differences, thus indicating that some people are more likely to show omission inclination than others. The present research aims to explore the role of regulatory focus as individual difference variables in omission bias. Moreover, we examine whether anticipated regret mediates the relationship between regulatory focus and moral judgement. Moral judgement tasks utilized include: (i) moral dilemma scenarios (Study 1); and (ii) ethical scenarios embracing apparent legal rule violations (Study 2). The results of both studies show that only prevention focus is significantly related to omission bias in moral judgement. Specifically, this relationship holds regardless of the nature of the ‘omission’ (whether they are deontological or utilitarian). In addition, anticipated regret/guilt for action was found to mediate the relationship between prevention focus and omission bias. Implications and limitations are discussed based on the results of the current study.