Premium
The what, how, and why of moralization: A review of current definitions, methods, and evidence in moralization research
Author(s) -
Rhee Joshua J.,
Schein Chelsea,
Bastian Brock
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/spc3.12511
Subject(s) - extant taxon , moral disengagement , psychology , social cognitive theory of morality , focus (optics) , politics , social psychology , moral psychology , process (computing) , epistemology , moral reasoning , political science , law , philosophy , physics , evolutionary biology , computer science , optics , biology , operating system
Moralization has major social and political implications. Although there is a depth of research on the nature and implications of moral attitudes and moral convictions, there has been less of a focus on the psychological processes by which actions, attitudes, or entities become moralized, or move from lesser to greater moral significance, and the research that does exist is highly fragmented. In the present paper, we provide a two‐factor structure for understanding the current state of research on moralization, categorizing extant moralization research by (1) whether it examines judgments of actions, attitudes, or entities and (2) whether it captures moral recognition (the shift from neutral to moral), or moral amplification. Using this framework, we then consider the various routes through which moralization may occur, discuss emerging research on the influence that social norms can have on this process, and address future areas of research. Overall, we hope to provide some initial steps toward developing a more integrated framework for understanding moralization.