Moral Appeal Research Articles

Moral values and vaccination behavior in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectiveEffective persuasive communication necessitates message matching; the conveyed message should resonate with the recipient's characteristics, including individual moral values. While studies examining the relationship between moral values and vaccination behavior have been conducted in a limited number of countries, this study seeks to provide evidence on this relationship beyond Western democracies. MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted from November 4 to December 17, 2021, in Russia. Participants reported their COVID-19 vaccination behavior and completed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, designed to measure the endorsement of moral values (n = 415). Regression analysis was employed to assess the association between each moral foundation and COVID-19 vaccination behavior. ResultsOur findings indicate that the moral foundations of Care, Loyalty, Fairness, and Sanctity significantly influence vaccination behavior. Individuals who strongly endorse Fairness (AME = −0.019; 95 % CI = −0.033, −0.005) and Sanctity (AME = −0.016; 95 % CI = −0.031, −0.002) were less likely to be vaccinated. Conversely, individuals endorsing Care (AME = −0.018; 95 % CI = −0.031, −0.005) and Loyalty (AME = −0.015; 95 % CI = −0.028, −0.001) were less likely to report refusal of vaccination. These results remain robust after adjusting for sociodemographic variables related to vaccination barriers. ConclusionOur findings carry public health implications; an understanding of the moral psychology underlying vaccination behavior can facilitate more targeted and effective health communication. Employing skillfully crafted moral appeals may mitigate negative attitudes toward vaccination and enhance vaccination rates.

Setting the tone: the diffusion of moral and moral-emotional appeals across political and public discourse

Abstract Whether a topic is seen in a moral or moral-emotional light has significant political implications. Yet, we lack knowledge about the process of moralization: Who defines the way topics are communicated about? Where prior research has investigated the relative power of different actors to place a topic on the agenda or shape opinions, we study who sets the moral and moral-emotional tone of debate. To do so, we zoom in on immigration discourse in Germany and analyze fine-grained social media data from politicians, political parties, newspapers, and members of the public over a period of more than four years. After employing a transformer model to identify moral and moral-emotional appeals, we use structural vector autoregression models to demonstrate the important role of radical-right challengers in shaping public discourse in a negative moral-emotional direction. The results inform theories of moralization and political entrepreneurship.

When Information Subsidies Go Live: Conceptualizing the Strategic Role of Personal Storytelling

This conceptual article argues that the strategic use of personal storytelling to attract public attention and gain political impact is insufficiently theorized in political communication, journalism studies, and lobbying research. Claiming the need to study backstage relations among interest groups, professional communication workers, journalists, and decision-makers, it conceptualizes how lay personal stories, with strong moral appeal and claim to authenticity, constitute a powerful form of live information subsidy in both indirect and direct communication strategies to influence decision-makers. Extending the classic theory of information subsidies, the article unpacks the particular value of personal storytelling regarding credibility, legitimacy, and appeal and hypothesizes how and when interest groups select, craft, exchange, and communicate lay personal stories to create public support and influence political decisions. The theorization of strategic personal storytelling is based on the synthesis of distinct research literatures and abductive multi-sited field studies of Norwegian interest groups, government communication, and journalistic source relations, heading the calls for more mixed-method, cross-disciplinary research to advance political communication overall.

The Black Lives Matter movement mitigates bias against racial minority actors

Watching movies is among the most popular entertainment and cultural activities. How do viewers react when a movie sequel increases racial minority actors in the main cast ("minority increase")? On the one hand, such sequels may receive better evaluations if viewers appreciate racially inclusive casting for its novel elements (the value-in-diversity perspective) and moral appeal (the fairness perspective on diversity). On the other hand, discrimination research suggests that if viewers harbor biases against racial minorities, sequels with minority increase may receive worse evaluations. To examine these competing possibilities, we analyze a unique panel dataset of movie series released from 1998 to 2021 and conduct text analysis of 312,457 reviews of these movies. Consistent with discrimination research, we find that movies with minority increase receive lower ratings and more toxic reviews. Importantly, these effects weaken after the advent of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, especially when the movement's intensity is high. These results are reliable across various robustness checks (e.g., propensity score matching, random implementation test). We conceptually replicate the bias mitigation effect of BLM in a preregistered experiment: Heightening the salience of BLM increases White individuals' acceptance of racial minority increase in a movie sequel. This research demonstrates the power of social movements in fostering diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Diasporic Somali migration to Turkey: Exploring the intersection of mobility, place, and geopolitics

Abstract This article explores the recent migration of diasporic Somalis to Turkey. Drawing on ethnographic studies, we examine the interplay between mobility and place within this context. Through an analysis of historical ties, geographical location, and geopolitical implications, we investigate how diasporic Somalis’ sense of Turkey as a place emerges as a preferred destination. We argue that Turkey's engagement with Somalia and its growing presence in the region have not only been valued but also highly regarded, thus motivating diasporic Somalis to choose Turkey as their new migration destination. However, the issue of diasporic Somalis' migration to Turkey extends beyond its perceived moral and strategic appeal, encompassing aspects of neo-colonialism and a place of exclusion. In conclusion, this article highlights the complex interplay of political and geopolitical factors that contribute to the uncertain future of diasporic Somalis in Turkey.

Morality meets menu: investigating the impact of moral appeals on vegetarianism through a conjoint survey experiment

Morality meets menu: investigating the impact of moral appeals on vegetarianism through a conjoint survey experiment

Толстой американский и Толстой британский: рецепция конца XIX — начала XX вв.

L.N. Tolstoy’s works, having been introduced to the English-reading audience, immediately became an issue of active critical discussions. British and American readers got acquainted with them differently than Russian ones —publications didn’t follow the chronological order, his fictional and philosophical books appeared simultaneously; the process of cultural transfer inevitably fragmented his work, took it out of context, and the readers in Britain and the USA perceived Tolstoy’s works in accordance with his image formed at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. Besides the linguistic cultural barriers (it was necessary to work with Russian realities, facts of Russian life, make them clearer for foreign readers), translators and critics faced with other challenges — for example, they were to bring Tolstoy’s work into the circle of topics and subjects familiar to the English — reading public. Tolstoy entered the English speaking culture as a symbol of realism, which however didn’t mean hard naturalism, but rather ethical and psychological realistic writing, especially taking into account the ongoing discussion on Zola’s novels. Tolstoy’s realism was treated as a universal one, based on the well-known cultural and spiritual values and therefore especially significant in spite of the exotic subject matter of his works. The didactic nature of his work, its powerful moral appeal was obvious and strongly sought for in the period of heated argument about the social system, the problems of the industrial society, gender relations, etc., — despite the fact that some episodes were incompatible with Victorian or Puritan attitudes and tastes of his English-speaking readers.

Addressing the paradox: Health expansion threatening sustainable healthcare

We need to address the paradox that health expansion threatens sustainable healthcare as anti-aging drugs are on the trail from trial to the market and come together with health enhancement measures changing demography and the health of populations. This poses global, social, and professional problems, and challenges clinical medicine as well as health policy. To handle the emerging challenges, we need to address four crucial issues: (1) injustice (access), (2) sustainability, (3) basic human rights, and (4) eugenics. To do so we need to differentiate between health improvements and health enhancements and reinforce medicine's strongest moral appeal: to reduce suffering.

Why we fight: investigating the moral appeals in terrorist propaganda, their predictors, and their association with attack severity

Abstract How do terrorists persuade otherwise decent citizens to join their violent causes? Guided by early mass communication research investigating propaganda’s efficacy and the model of intuitive morality and exemplars, we investigated the persuasive moral appeals employed by terrorist organizations known to be successful at recruiting others to their causes. We compiled a database of N = 873 propaganda items created by N = 73 violent terrorist organizations and content analyzed the moral appeals emphasized in each. Results revealed that terrorist groups’ ideologies and motivations predicted the moral values they emphasized in their propaganda, and that ingroup loyalty and fairness appeals featured prominently across all propaganda. Terrorist groups’ emphasis on purity in their propaganda was positively correlated with their attack frequency and with the number of human casualties they caused worldwide and in the USA. Terrorists’ emphasis on ingroup loyalty in propaganda was also positively correlated with the number of US human casualties they caused. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Empowered, Smaller Families Are Better for the Planet: How to Talk about Family Planning and Environmental Sustainability

Despite their complex and nonlinear relationship, reproductive rights and environmental sustainability likely have a synergistic relationship. Social movement theory suggests that reframing reproductive rights in this light can strengthen and benefit them by diversifying their moral appeal and support base. Yet despite increasing scientific evidence demonstrating ways in which population size, growth, and distribution tend to undermine various aspects of environmental sustainability, and increasing public awareness and concern for environmental degradation, linking these issues remains a contested and polarised enterprise. In this article, we explore the marginalisation processes at play surrounding this linkage and introduce the concept of population reductionism. We review advice and normative trends on communicating messages linking the fulfilment of reproductive rights with improved environmental sustainability. We elaborate a strategic communication roadmap to promote the operationalisation of the family planning and environmental sustainability linkage, centred on individual empowerment, and propose a global rallying cry—‘empowered, smaller families are better for the planet’.

A lived experience or a reason? From an ethics debate to contemporary culture

Karol Wojtyła’s debate with Max Scheler is multi-faceted. One of the central issues here is the dispute over the role of a lived experience and a reason in the structure of moral action. What is the starting point for providing an answer to the moral appeal directed at the human person? Is it a lived experience of an axiological quality called ‘value’ or a rational reason in which the value experienced is only one of the elements? Scheler is essentially in favour of the former scenario: the value carries sufficient power to pull the subject into action. And while his efficacy does not completely disappear here, it is fundamentally dominated by the axiological content (and attraction) of the value. Wojtyła takes a critical view of the German philosopher’s position, and states its inadequacy in the formation of mature moral action. A lived experience of a value is important, but it is not enough. The axiological experience moves the person, and contains an extraordinary force motivating one to undertake a specific act. However, without the participation of reason, it can be misguided and even inadequate. A person has to visualise, and to some extent objectivise the lived value for it to become the object of rational evaluation. Wojtyła’s dispute with Scheler is not just a marginal discussion between two European thinkers, within the hermetic philosophical debate of the 20th century. Indeed, it is part of the perennial questions as to what morality is, what role it plays in human life, and to what extent human beings influence the realisation of moral good and evil. The debate can also be a kind of lens affording a better view of the essence of contemporary disputes concerning both morality and culture. The diminishing and marginalisation of reason (especially in the strong, metaphysical version) in various spheres of life is striking. The tension between the culture of feeling and the culture of thinking is discernible and must prompt a debate. Karol Wojtyła shows what shape such a debate could take, and that it could be enriching for the entirety of contemporary culture.

Does moral rhetoric fuel or reduce divides between parties and non-copartisan voters?

Political parties at times use moral appeals to voters outside of their support base, i.e., non-copartisan voters. Yet, morality is typically considered a divisive force in politics. Does moral rhetoric actually alleviate or exacerbate divides between parties and non-copartisan voters? The paper addresses this question by focusing on non-copartisans’ attitudes towards the party. Insights from previous work on moral persuasion and attitudinal bias suggest a conflicting picture. On the one hand, moral rhetoric is likely to make morally aligned non-copartisans more favourable towards the party. On the other hand, moral rhetoric is unlikely to make even the morally aligned favourable towards the party. In fact, moral rhetoric may further push away non-copartisans with pre-existing hostility. Using original, representative survey experiments from Britain, the paper finds that moral rhetoric can increase favourable attitudes and that it does not further promote hostility. Morality in party competition does not necessarily fuel division.

Can Purpose Foster Stakeholder Trust in Corporations?

As part of institutional changes toward more responsible capitalism, firms increasingly articulate a purpose beyond simply profit as a central tenet of their governance. Management scholarship has noted the potential advantages of such purpose-focus for stakeholder trust. However, some consumers, employees, and shareholders have expressed skepticism about the veracity of firms’ purpose claims and raised concerns about purpose-washing. We propose two distinct influence pathways—one cognitive, one affect-based—by which corporate purpose can influence stakeholder trust. First, purpose constitutes a signal of firm intent and quality that expresses a firm’s public, enduring commitments. It fosters cognitive trust by providing clarity and assurance regarding the firm’s future conduct, allowing stakeholders to better calculate relational and reputational risk and the instrumental value of exchange—even when they do not share the firm’s prosocial mission, principles for stakeholder relations, or its conception of virtues. Second, purpose presents a moral appeal to stakeholders. This appeal can stimulate positive affective responses, activate stakeholders’ hedonic and eudaemonic motives tied to their moral identity, and thus provide intuitive cues to trust the firm. By sharply delineating the pathways by which purpose can shape interorganizational trust, we not only illuminate how purpose can yield trust benefits but also when it is ineffectual and causes stakeholder backlash. This clarifies the role of purpose in shaping relational governance and multistakeholder cooperation and contributes to research on strategic and moral commitments as foundations of interorganizational trust.History: This paper has been accepted for the Strategy Science Special Issue on Corporate Purpose.

“A tour guide losing her cool”

Abstract This article seeks to explore the mechanisms of holding others accountable for a perceived deviation from moral order through public complaints on Chinese social media as well as the influences of emotional stance and social positioning when people perceive a breach of the moral order and try to restore it. Our data consists of a transcribed complaint narrative (CN) widely deemed morally transgressive, and a corpus of web-based news comments (WNC), displaying public counter-offensive actions to the CN. A contextualized discourse analysis reveals that abundant context-spanning impoliteness formulae in WNC are strategies for constructing collective identities and magnifying the condemnation of immorality. In the process of moral order appeal, using various emotive impoliteness formulae appear to be a situated norm.

Lexical Ambiguity in Political Rhetoric: Why Morality Doesn't Fit in a Bag of Words

AbstractHow do politicians use moral appeals in their rhetoric? Previous research suggests that morality plays an important role in elite communication and that the endorsement of specific values varies systematically across the ideological spectrum. We argue that this view is incomplete since it only focuses on whether certain values are endorsed and not how they are contextualized by politicians. Using a novel sentence embedding approach, we show that although liberal and conservative politicians use the same moral terms, they attach diverging meanings to these values. Accordingly, the politics of morality is not about the promotion of specific moral values per se but, rather, a competition over their respective meaning. Our results highlight that simple dictionary-based methods to measure moral rhetoric may be insufficient since they fail to account for the semantic contexts in which words are used and, therefore, risk overlooking important features of political communication and party competition.

Avoiding the Abject and Seeking the Script: Perceived Mind, Morality, and Trust in a Persuasive Social Robot

Social robots are being groomed for human influence, including the implicit and explicit persuasion of humans. Humanlike characteristics are understood to enhance robots’ persuasive impact; however, little is known of how perceptions of two key human capacities—mind and morality—function in robots’ persuasive potential. This experiment tests the possibility that perceived robot mind and morality will correspond with greater persuasive impact, moderated by relational trustworthiness for a moral appeal and by capacity trustworthiness for a logical appeal. Via an online survey, a humanoid robot asks participants to help it learn to overcome CAPTCHA puzzles to access important online spaces—either on grounds that it is logical or moral to do so. Based on three performance indicators and one self-report indicator of compliance, analysis indicates that (a) seeing the robot as able to perceive and act on the world selectively improves compliance, and (b) perceiving agentic capacity diminishes compliance, though capacity trustworthiness can moderate that reduction. For logical appeals, social-moral mental capacities promote compliance, moderated by capacity trustworthiness. Findings suggest that, in this compliance scenario, the accessibility of schemas and scripts for engaging robots as social-moral actors may be central to whether/how perceived mind, morality, and trust function in machine persuasion.

Bedtime negotiations: Unravelling normative complexity in hospital-based prevention.

This study explores how actors deal with normative complexity in the design and implementation of practices of preventative care. Previous studies have identified conflicting (e)valuations of prevention within health care at large, but little empirical research describes how these conflicts are resolved in day-to-day interactions. Zooming in on the work of a single actor, our ethnographic study describes a Dutch psychiatrist developing a novel type of hospital bed that provides preventative psychiatric care for women in the post-partum period. Drawing on pragmatic sociology of justification, we construe 'beds'-and the time, people and resources they represent-as points of convergence between conflicting valuations of care. The results show that embedded modes of valuation in a curative hospital setting generate significant normative complexity during implementation. We identify three main strategies through which normative complexity is managed: (a) translating between different modes of valuing prevention, (b) compromising in (material) design of care beds and (c) transcending embedded valuations through moral appeals. By showing the normative complexity of prevention in practice, our study highlights the need for a diverse and situated accounting for preventative care.

A merely national ‘universal’ basic income and global justice

A merely national ‘universal’ basic income and global justice

A Randomized Experiment on the Effects of Moral Appeals on U.S. Parents’ Intentions to Vaccinate Their 5e11-Year-Old Children Against COVID-19

Background: Democrats and Republicans in the United States were divided on their COVID-related risk perceptions and their adoption of preventive measures (e.g., getting vaccinated). Based on moral foundations theory and the matching hypothesis, this study hypothesized that parents with a Democratic affiliation would be persuaded by messages featuring a harm/care or a fairness moral appeal, whereas parents with a Republican affiliation would be persuaded by messages featuring an authority or ingroup loyalty appeal.

Strategi Message Appeals Ono Harato Sebua dalam Kampanye Stop Kekerasan Terhadap Anak

Wahana Visi Indonesia for the South Nias Program Area is a non-profit organization that carries out a campaign to stop violence against children by using a strategy of message appeals with the nuances of local wisdom, namely ono harato sebua. The research employs a descriptive method using a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques are interviews, observation and documentation. The result shows that the use of message appeals of ono harato sebua in the campaign to stop violence against children, using rational appeals, emotional appeals and morality appeals. The rational appeals use visual media and socialization. Visual media using stickers written on ono harato sebua, and socialization is to convey data on violence against children that occurred in South Nias regency, accompanied by presentation on children’s rights. The emotional appeal that arises is positive emotional appeals, and the moral appeal that appears is the attitude of responsibility and changes in good and right parenting patterns. Barriers that arise during the campaign are personal barriers and environmental barriers. Personal barriers refer to public’s perception of the campaign to stop violence against children, while environmental barriers refer to the indifference and lack of cooperation between community groups in supporting the campaign.