Moral Realism in Adults' Judgments of Responsibility

Abstract

To explore the occurrence of moral realism in the moral practice of adults, students were asked to respond to storylines describing an actor, child or adult, involved in an action leading to slight or severe accidental damage. Objective responsibility was the criterion for moral realism. Subjects rated how responsible the actor was for the damage and how angry they would be with the actor, and they selected consequences appropriate for the offender. Results indicated that degree of responsibility attributed to the offender, anger experienced by the victims, and expectations of repayment or compensation increased with severity of damage. The view of adult moral judgment as based only on logic is questioned, and the influence of emotion on moral judgment is considered.