ABSTRACT

This cutting-edge handbook examines moral psychology and behavior, uncovering layers of human morality through a comprehensive overview of topics and approaches.

Featuring an array of expert international contributors, the book addresses five key themes: moral reasoning, moral judgments, moral emotions, moral behavior and moral self-views. Each section includes empirical chapters that address these themes at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup or intergroup level. Each section starts with a reflective chapter from a leading scholar in this field of study who shares their personal vision on key issues and future developments. Drawing on emerging research and featuring real-world examples, the book offers a deeper understanding of the social psychological factors that shape our moral behavior and how this plays out in our daily lives.

The Routledge International Handbook of the Psychology of Morality will be essential reading for academics and students in social psychology, the psychology of morality, business ethics and related areas. It will also be a compelling resource for legal and HR professionals, policy makers and anyone interested in understanding the complex and multi-faceted nature of human morality.

chapter 1|6 pages

Introduction

What is right and what is wrong relates to who you are and where you belong—unpacking the psychology of morality

part I|9 pages

A vision on morality

chapter 2|7 pages

Forward

The century of moral psychology

part II|56 pages

Moral reasoning

part IIa|7 pages

A vision on moral reasoning

chapter 3|5 pages

Moral reasoning

My personal journey

part IIb|46 pages

Empirical review chapters on moral reasoning

chapter 4|11 pages

The intrapersonal level

Intrapersonal moral reasoning

chapter 5|11 pages

The interpersonal level

Impartial beneficence—the forgotten core of utilitarian psychology

chapter 6|12 pages

The intragroup level

How social identity tunes moral cognition

chapter 7|10 pages

The intergroup level

Human = moral—the boundary conditions for moral reasoning engagement in intergroup contexts

part III|62 pages

Moral judgments

part IIIa|9 pages

A vision on moral judgments

chapter 8|7 pages

Moral judgment

What makes it unique?

part IIIb|50 pages

Empirical review chapters on moral judgments

chapter 9|10 pages

The intrapersonal level

How power shapes the judgment of others' moral character—a social context perspective

chapter 10|12 pages

The interpersonal level

Interpersonal consequences of moral judgments about others

chapter 11|9 pages

The intragroup level

Moral character in group perception

chapter 12|17 pages

The intergroup level

Social neuroscience of intergroup decision-making

part IV|55 pages

Moral emotions

part IVa|7 pages

A vision on moral emotions

part IVb|45 pages

Empirical review chapters on moral emotions

chapter 14|10 pages

The intrapersonal level

Beyond contamination and disgust—the role of moral emotion in threat monitoring and moral judgment

chapter 15|11 pages

The interpersonal level

What is shame? Shame as a relational network of emotion-experience

chapter 16|11 pages

The intragroup level

Moral emotions, empathy, and acceptance of others as ingroup members—a social neuroscience perspective

chapter 17|11 pages

The intergroup level

Moral emotions in intergroup relations—the motivations and consequences of advantaged group members' aims to challenge the intergroup inequality

part V|53 pages

Moral behaviour

part Va|8 pages

A vision on moral behaviour

chapter 18|6 pages

Behavioural ethics

A retrospective reflection and prospective prescription

part Vb|43 pages

Empirical review chapters on moral behavior

chapter 19|9 pages

The intrapersonal level

From feelings to moral actions—a working memory model of emotional influences on people's own moral behaviours

chapter 20|11 pages

The interpersonal level

Affirming transgressors' morality as a strategy to promote apologies and interpersonal reconciliation—the promise and potential pitfalls

chapter 21|11 pages

The intragroup level

When and why reputational concerns influence immoral behaviour

chapter 22|10 pages

The intergroup level

The strategic use of morality in intergroup relations

part VI|56 pages

Moral self-views

part VIa|7 pages

A vision on moral self-views

chapter 23|5 pages

On the vertical

How the moral self pursues its highest good

part VIb|46 pages

Empirical review chapters on moral self-views

chapter 24|10 pages

The intrapersonal level

The moral self

chapter 25|13 pages

The interpersonal level

Moral self-views, at the interpersonal level of analysis

chapter 26|11 pages

The intragroup level

Morally motivated intragroup deviance and dissent

chapter 27|10 pages

The intergroup level

Moral self-views

part VII|8 pages

A concluding vision

chapter 28|6 pages

How morality shapes research

A conversation with the editors