Individual differences in relational construal are associated with variability in moral judgment

Abstract

Relationship Regulation Theory (RRT; Rai & Fiske, 2011) posits that moral judgment varies depending on how one construes the social relationships in which moral actions occur. We provide a novel test of this theory using a wide variety of moral violations based on Moral Foundations Theory (MFT; Graham et al., 2011). In two studies participants judged violations occurring in several different relationships, and then rated the degree to which they use four Relational Model prototypes (Fiske, 1991) to construe each relationship. Variability in construal was associated with variability in wrongness judgments across several types of violations; this was shown when analysis observed aggregated relationship-specific effects and also relationship-general individual differences in average construal. Results (a) showed mixed support for specific RM-judgment hypotheses derived from RRT and MFT, thus warranting further research exploring the nuances of RRT, while also providing novel implications for MFT, (b) extend past research to show that individual differences in relational tendencies shape moral judgment, and (c) support RRT’s claim that relational construal is an important factor accounting for variability in moral judgment.