Dirt, disorder and deontology

摘要

In the last decade, an increasing number of studies have highlighted the profound consequences of sacred values, but very few studies have examined how values become sacred, or what increases an individual's proclivity to sacralize. This dissertation asked whether environments of Disorder and Dirt would change individuals' proclivity towards sacred values, or the way they make moral judgments in general.;Two theoretical strains supported this hypothesis. First, research supporting the Meaning Maintenance Model demonstrates that situations of non-order lead to affective distress, which in turn motivates compensatory affirmation. Second, research on embodiment has established that the physical world can influence our cognitions, suggesting that compensation can occur between physical and conceptual domains. I hypothesized that situations of Disorder and Dirt would lead to moral compensation by activating the deontological processing characteristic of sacred values and certain types of moral judgment.;In two studies, participants completed sacred value and moral judgment questionnaires within rooms of Order, Disorder or Dirt (Disgust). In Study 1, there were no main effects of condition on proclivity for sacred values. However, Disorder and Dirt conditions increased participants' deontological moral judgments.;Study 2 employed new measures. Once again, there were no main effects on SV proclivity. This time, contrary to prediction and to Study 1 findings, Disorder (but not Dirt) increased utilitarian judgments in three moral dilemma categories.;Possible reasons for these divergent findings are discussed. What they do suggest, together with correlational data in the literature, is that non-ordered environments had no effect on the peoples' proclivity to think about their preferences in sacred or absolute terms. While non-ordered environments influence moral judgment and decision-making, that influence may be indirect, less stable and more affected by other contextual features (including norm violations) than has been previously suggested.