Causal models mediate moral inferences.

Most theories of moral judgments distinguish between acts and outcomes. According to these theories, moral judgments are either primarily based on the evaluation of the acts or the outcomes with multi-system theories allowing for both possibilities. Here we argue that it is not only the acts and outcomes that determine moral evaluations but also the causal relations linking the acts with their outcomes. Causal relations influence moral judgments by shifting attention to aspects of inter-victim relations. We report three projects that demonstrate the usefulness of this framework in tasks that range from moral judgments about trolley problems to basic force-dynamic interpretations of simple perceptual and linguistic scenes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

Accession Number: 2017-16691-002. Partial author list: First Author & Affiliation: Waldmann, Michael R.; University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany. Release Date: 20170629. Publication Type: Book (0200), Edited Book (0280). Format Covered: Print. Document Type: Chapter. ISBN: 978-1-138-93797-0, Hardcover; 978-1-138-93798-7, Paperback; 978-1-315-67599-2, Digital (undefined format). Language: English. Major Descriptor: Causality; Inference; Morality; Social Cognition. Minor Descriptor: Linguistics. Classification: Social Perception & Cognition (3040). Population: Human (10). Intended Audience: Psychology: Professional & Research (PS). Page Count: 19.