How Dramas Featuring Morally Ambiguous Protagonists Increase a Sense of Life Expansion: The Role of Moral Judgment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Building on moral foundations theory, this article explores which combinations of moral ambiguity domains (care–harm, care–unfairness, fairness–harm, and fairness–unfairness) exhibited by morally ambiguous protagonists (MAPs) in movies evoke a stronger sense of moral conflict in viewers. It further explores viewers’ moral judgment process when they perceive moral conflicts in protagonists who demonstrate moral ambiguity. Study 1, using a measurement-of-mediation design, confirms a moral judgment process; perceived moral conflict encourages viewers to infer that the protagonists suffer a disturbed moral conscience when they find justification in MAPs’ motives for their behaviors. Such inferences lead to the approbation of their behaviors and then result in eudaimonic experiences and a sense of self-expansion. With a moderation-of-process design, Study 2 provides further evidence that behavioral approbation has a mediating role in viewers’ appreciation processes.