title: Cold-hearted or cool-headed: physical coldness promotes utilitarian moral judgment.
abstract: In the current study, we examine the effect of physical coldness on personal moral dilemma judgment. Previous studies have indicated that utilitarian moral judgment-sacrificing a few people to achieve the greater good for others-was facilitated when: (1) participants suppressed an initial emotional response and deliberately thought about the utility of outcomes; (2) participants had a high-level construal mindset and focused on abstract goals (e.g., save many); or (3) there was a decreasing emotional response to sacrificing a few. In two experiments, we exposed participants to extreme cold or typical room temperature and then asked them to make personal moral dilemma judgments. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that coldness prompted utilitarian judgment, but the effect of coldness was independent from deliberate thought or abstract high-level construal mindset. As Experiment 2 revealed, coldness facilitated utilitarian judgment via reduced empathic feelings. Therefore, physical coldness did not affect the "cool-headed" deliberate process or the abstract high-level construal mindset. Rather, coldness biased people toward being "cold-hearted," reduced empathetic concern, and facilitated utilitarian moral judgments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Human Science Informatics, School of Informatics and Sciences, Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
keywords: coldness; construal level; embodiment; empathy; moral dilemmas