Handgraaf et. al (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 (5) (January 2008), analyze the correlation between power and moral behaviour with unsurprising results. Two bargaining games are set up: the dictator game and the ultimatum game. In the first, a power-holder is able to force a given decision upon an agent. In the latter, a given decision is proposed by a power-holder to an agent, with the caveat that the agent has the ability to choose, and neither the power-holder nor the agent will receive a reward if the ultimatum is not chosen. What is observed in the first case is a complete lack of regard for moral behaviour, whereas in the second case an increased reliance on social responsibility and moral sentiment is observed. The interesting question to ask is: is moral obligation merely a fabrication, used for an underlying function of power-seeking?
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:20:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015