Prototypic Moral Character

Abstract

Four studies tested whether moral character is organized as a cognitive prototype. Study 1 involved a free listing of features of virtuous persons. Study 2 required participants to rate each trait on its centrality to good character. Astandard recognition memory paradigm was used in Studies 3 and 4 to test whether participants reported more false recognition of trait attributes that they have not seen but are consistent (virtue central) with the prototype. In both studies, participants reported significant false recognition of novel virtue-central traits than they did virtue-peripheral traits, supporting the claim that a conception of good character is schematically organized around a prototype. Prototype activation had weak and inconsistent effects on recall memory. Implications for understanding moral cognition and identity are discussed.