ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4737-5120
Current Organisation
The University of Edinburgh
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Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 15-01-2022
Abstract: What are the things that we think matter morally, and how do societal factors influence this? To date, research has explored several in idual-level and historical factors that influence the size of our ‘moral circles’. There has, however, been less attention focused on which societal factors play a role. We present the first multi-national exploration of moral expansiveness – that is the size of people’s moral circles across countries. We found low generalized trust, greater perceptions of a breakdown in the social fabric of society, and greater perceived economic inequality were associated with smaller moral circles. Generalized trust also helped explain the effects of perceived inequality on lower levels of moral inclusiveness. Other inequality indicators (i.e., Gini coefficients) were, however, unrelated to moral expansiveness. These findings suggest societal factors, especially those associated with generalized trust, may influence the size of our moral circles.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 13-01-2022
Abstract: Animal minds are of central importance to debates about their rights and welfare. Remaining ignorant of evidence that animals have minds is therefore likely to facilitate their mistreatment. Studying s les of adults and students from the UK and US we found that, consistent with motivational perspectives on meat consumption, those who were more (vs. less) committed to eating meat were more motivated to avoid exposure to information about food-animals’ sentience (Studies 1), showed less interest in exposure to articles about intelligent food animals (Studies 2a and 2b), and were quicker to terminate exposure to internet pop-ups containing information about food-animals’ minds (Studies 3a and 3b). At the same time, those who were more (vs. less) committed to eating meat approached information about companion-animals’ minds (Studies 2a-3b) and unintelligent food animals (Studies 2a and 2b) in largely the same ways. The findings demonstrate that, within the UK and US, the desire to eat meat is associated with strategies to avoid information that is likely to challenge meat consumption.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 19-05-2020
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has extensively changed the state of psychological science, from what research questions psychologists can ask to which methodologies psychologists can employ to investigate them. In this article, we offer a perspective on how to optimize new research in the pandemic’s wake. As this pandemic is inherently a social phenomenon—an event that hinges upon human-to-human contact—we focus on socially relevant subfields of psychology. We highlight specific psychological phenomena that have likely shifted due to the pandemic and discuss theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations of conducting research on these phenomena. Following this discussion, we evaluate meta-scientific issues that have been lified by the pandemic. We aim to demonstrate how theoretically grounded views on the COVID-19 pandemic can help make psychological science stronger—not weaker—in its wake.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 30-03-2023
Abstract: As we traverse through the 21st century, economic inequality is predicted to increase as we face new challenges, from changes in the technological landscape to the growing climate crisis. It is crucial we understand how these changes in inequality may affect cohesion within society. We propose that economic inequality increases moralization – that is, the greater tendency to employ or emphasize morality in everyday life – as a response to the erosion of social fabric brought about by the unequal distribution of resources. While we may employ moralization as an attempt to restore social order, this enhanced tendency to view the world through a moral lens has the potential to sow isions between people. Using data from social media as well as a multinational survey across 41 regions around the world, our work shows that economic inequality is associated with the use of moral language online as well as harsher moral judgments about the actions of others. Together these findings demonstrate that economic inequality is linked to the tendency to see the world through a moral lens. Understanding how societal structures impact our moral perspectives may help bridge the growing isions between people and foster a more united society.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2022.105935
Abstract: Animal minds are of central importance to debates about their rights and welfare. Remaining ignorant of evidence that animals have minds is therefore likely to facilitate their mistreatment. Studying s les of adults and students from the UK and US we found that, consistent with motivational perspectives on meat consumption, those who were more (vs. less) committed to eating meat were more motivated to avoid exposure to information about food-animals' sentience (Studies 1), showed less interest in exposure to articles about intelligent food animals (Studies 2a and 2b), and were quicker to terminate exposure to internet pop-ups containing information about food-animals' minds (Studies 3a and 3b). At the same time, those who were more (vs. less) committed to eating meat approached information about companion-animals' minds (Studies 2a-3b) and unintelligent food animals (Studies 2a and 2b) in largely the same ways. The findings demonstrate that, within the UK and US, the desire to eat meat is associated with strategies to avoid information that is likely to challenge meat consumption.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Steve Loughnan.