title: Effects of Suboptimally Presented Erotic Pictures on Moral Judgments: A Cross-Cultural Comparison.
abstract: Previous research has identified a set of core factors that influence moral judgments. The present study addresses the interplay between moral judgments and four factors: (a) incidental affects, (b) sociocultural context, (c) type of dilemma, and (d) participant's sex. We asked participants in two different countries (Colombia and Spain) to judge the acceptability of actions in response to personal and impersonal moral dilemmas. Before each dilemma an affective prime (erotic, pleasant or neutral pictures) was presented suboptimally. Our results show that: a) relative to neutral priming, erotic primes increase the acceptance of harm for a greater good (i.e., more utilitarian judgments), b) relative to Colombians, Spanish participants rated causing harm as less acceptable, c) relative to impersonal dilemmas, personal dilemmas reduced the acceptance of harm, and d) relative to men, women were less likely to consider harm acceptable. Our results are congruent with findings showing that sex is a crucial factor in moral cognition, and they extend previous research by showing the interaction between culture and incidental factors in the making of moral judgments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Fundación Universitaria Luis Amigó, Medellín, Colombia.|Human Evolution and Cognition Group, associated group to IFISC (University of the Balearic Islands-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivera-La Rosa
authors.affiliation: Human Evolution and Cognition Group, associated group to IFISC (University of the Balearic Islands-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corradi
authors.affiliation: Human Evolution and Cognition Group, associated group to IFISC (University of the Balearic Islands-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Villacampa
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Psychology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martí-Vilar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Fundación Universitaria Luis Amigó, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Olber Eduardo
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Arango
authors.affiliation: Human Evolution and Cognition Group, associated group to IFISC (University of the Balearic Islands-CSIC), Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosselló
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003657:Decision Making; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult