Moral Superiority Research Articles

Further Evidence for the Dark-Ego-Vehicle Principle: Higher Pathological Narcissistic Grandiosity and Virtue Signaling Are Related to Greater Involvement in LGBQ and Gender Identity Activism

AbstractThe dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP) suggests that individuals with so-called dark personalities (e.g., high narcissistic traits) are attracted to political and social activism that they can repurpose to satisfy their specific ego-focused needs (e.g., signaling moral superiority and manipulating others) instead of achieving prosocial goals. Currently, research on the DEVP is still rare. With two pre-registered studies, we sought further evidence for the DEVP by examining the associations of pathological narcissistic grandiosity with involvement in LGBQ activism (Study 1) and gender identity activism (Study 2). Socioeconomically diverse samples from the USA (Study 1; N = 446) and the UK (Study 2; N = 837) were recruited online via the research-oriented crowdsourcing platform Prolific. Individuals completed the Pathological Narcissism Inventory as well as measures of involvement in activism. Moreover, we assessed different covariates (e.g., altruism), and potential correlates within the narcissism–activism relationship (i.e., virtue signaling, dominance, and aggression). In addition, we examined potential relationships between other dark personality variables (e.g., psychopathy) and activism. In both samples, higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was related to greater involvement in activism. As expected, virtue signaling was consistently involved in the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and activism. However, neither dominance nor aggression was related to individuals’ involvement in activism. The results did also not consistently support a relationship between higher psychopathy and greater involvement in activism. Overall, the findings help to further specify the DEVP.

Clashing Narratives: An Ideological Square Analysis of Daniel Hagari and Abu Obaida Speeches

This study investigates the use of positive self-representation and negative other-representation in the speeches of two spokespersons, Daniel Hagari of Israel and Abu Obaida of Hamas, during the conflict that escalated after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, 2023. Utilizing Van Dijk's framework for discursive strategies, the analysis focuses on micro-level strategies such as actor description, comparison, consensus, evidentiality, national self-glorification, presupposition, and victimization. Findings reveal that while both spokespersons employed similar strategies to shape public perception, Daniel Hagari heavily utilized the comparison strategy to highlight the moral superiority of the IDF over Hamas. In contrast, Abu Obaida frequently used national self-glorification to bolster the morale of his audience and emphasize the righteousness of Hamas's cause. The study underscores the role of strategic discourse in conflict situations and calls for greater awareness and research into the linguistic tools used to propagate ideologies during war.

‘People of the barracks’: Meta-beliefs of a migrant community in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Literature discussing contents of meta-beliefs, or beliefs about other beliefs, and what effects they have on intergroup relationships, specifically among disadvantaged groups are rare. Our study aims to explore meta-beliefs among the resettled Sambas Madurese community, in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, who were affected by the 1999 Sambas Conflict. We adopted an ethnographic approach, with a three-month live-in duration, conducting interviews, casual conversations, and taking part in community activities. Our findings reveal two important contents of meta-belief held by the Sambas Madurese migrants: ‘people of the barracks’, and ‘evil and criminal’. As a disadvantaged group, the Sambas Madurese resort to more covert and subtle forms of resistance, mainly through reappropriation and daily life changes to disprove meta-beliefs. Here, reappropriation of those negative meta-beliefs, mainly linked to moral superiority, is employed. It is observed that the contents of meta-belief go beyond cognitive aspects, including strong emotive components and behavioral responses. Our study hopes to contribute to a discussion on intergroup relationships among host and disadvantaged migrant communities from ethnic conflict backgrounds.

Food Encounters in the Tropics and the Andes: Isaac Holton’s Sensorial Construction of Disgust with Colombian Food in the Nineteenth Century

ABSTRACT This article examines the circulation of travel writing in the formation of white tastes created rhetorically and materially in opposition to the tastes of locals, focusing on food encounters between U.S. writers and Latin Americans in the mid-nineteenth century. It examines the representation of Colombian foodways in the travel accounts of North American botanist Isaac Holton published in 1857. Holton’s rejection of certain foods, especially those that Colombians seemed to enjoy most, is presented as evidence of his sense of moral superiority. Scholarship on American travel and empire shows how discourses in colonial food encounters and narratives about morality and good taste created stereotypes that persisted over time. Food mediated the daily relationship between travelers and locals in contexts of contested social and political power. To address the coloniality of food encounters, this essay focuses on the textual circulation of representations of African-descended and racially mixed Colombians as lazy and dirty. Their food and foodways served as political, racialized, and gendered metaphors that represented subaltern Colombians in a growing global community of readers. Narratives of disgust about people of the tropics and the Andes help readers to understand how early American travelers to Colombia drew on their sensory experiences to construct narratives that interpreted cultural differences as national and moral. This analysis exposes the link between emotions and senses in forming narratives of “otherness” in the Americas.

Consumer Moral Decision Making: The Impact of Alignable Versus Nonalignable Differences

Abstract Consumer choice decisions often involve a tradeoff between an alignable difference (a difference along a shared attribute) and a nonalignable difference (a difference between unique attributes of each alternative). For example, Café A provides friendly service, while Café B offers unwelcoming service (an alignable difference). However, Café A occasionally makes billing errors, and Café B has comfortable seating (a non-alignable difference). Prior research shows that alignable differences tend to have a greater impact on choice than nonalignable differences (known as the “alignability effect”). Yet, little research has examined tradeoffs involving moral attributes. Contrary to the prevailing evidence, eight studies (N = 2,861) demonstrate that in moral attribute tradeoffs, nonalignable (vs. alignable) differences have a greater impact on choice (termed the “nonalignability effect”). Consequently, consumers prefer an alternative that is superior on a nonalignable moral difference but inferior on an alignable moral difference. Moreover, in moral-quality tradeoffs, where one alternative is more ethical but is of lower quality, consumers show a stronger preference for the ethical alternative when its moral superiority is represented by a nonalignable (vs. alignable) difference. The nonalignability effect is driven by consumers’ unique decision process in making moral attribute tradeoffs, characterized by categorical valence coding and attribute-by-attribute win-loss counting.

Exploring the dark side of NGO moral goodness: a conceptual framework on the NGO halo and its role in unethical behaviour

There are various examples of unethical behaviour in and by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), yet NGOs are perceived as morally good organisations. Drawing on social identity theory and cognitive dissonance theory we develop a conceptual framework to develop a new root cause for NGO unethical behaviour, namely that such behaviour can be explained because of NGO perceived moral goodness. We propose that when mission, morals and people are perceived as morally good within the NGO, this perception can be glorified, creating an NGO halo. We propose that the NGO halo can drive unethical behaviour through: (1) prioritising mission over other organisational considerations, creating an end-justifies-the-means mentality (moral justification); (2) prioritising the NGO’s morals over legal or social norms, motivating the NGO to trump others’ norms (moral superiority); and (3) prioritising the NGO’s people over ethics management, leading to unethical behaviour being dismissed (moral naivety). We discuss our framework’s implications.

“They Too Will Be Gone and New”. Colonial Otherness in the Interplay between Humanity and Elfdom in Andrzej Sapkowski’s “The Edge of the World”

Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy narrative and novel saga, as exemplified by the “The Edge of the World” short story, borrows largely from J. R. R. Tolkien’s depiction of elves in defining most of their traits and the relationship between them and humans. Sapkowski, however, clearly transforms the image of the (predominantly) benevolent elf defined by Tolkien. The aim of this article is to explore the way in which Sapkowski portrays the elven race as sovereign in their exclusion from the world of humanity. Sapkowski’s story allows the group to maintain its unique motivations, resisting morally dualistic stereotyping at the same time. Moreover, because neither humanity nor elfdom may claim moral superiority in their conflict, the colonial experience of the elves is not simply appropriated by the author as an example of Indigenous victimhood. Rather, it serves the purpose of presenting readers with a multifaceted tapestry of colonial conflict contained within a fantasy world. The players of this world, though opposed and prone to othering their enemies, are nevertheless rhetorically equal.

Salvation and sweet rolls: An examination of Mormon diet books

ABSTRACT Religious diet books highlight the overlap between religious and diet cultures. This article examines the intersection of Mormonism, diet culture, and fatphobia through an analysis of Mormon diet books published between 1990 and 2015. The study explores how Mormon diet books leverage the Word of Wisdom (the LDS health code) to promote weight loss and reinforce religious obedience. By framing dietary compliance as a spiritual mandate, these texts link physical health and body size to moral and spiritual worthiness. This conflation of body and spirit, rooted in Mormon theology, amplifies fatphobia by promoting thinness as a sign of obedience and spiritual strength. The article employs content analysis to identify themes of obedience and missionary work within these diet books. It argues that while these books purport to offer health guidance, they ultimately propagate a problematic narrative that equates thinness with spiritual success and moral superiority. The study highlights the broader implications of such narratives, emphasizing how they contribute to fatphobia and impact individual and community perceptions of body size and health within Mormon culture.

Moral Faces: How Spontaneous Ideological Inferences from Facial Cues Influence Moral Judgments

This research demonstrates that individuals make moral judgments based on ideological inferences from facial cues. Using racially homogeneous male faces, four studies showed that individuals infer ideological beliefs—and thus group membership (in- versus out-group)—from a novel face and that the fit between the inferred social identity and the perceiver’s own social identity leads to judgments of moral superiority. Further evidence shows that a salient social identity moderates moral evaluation. These results reflect the automaticity of social categorization, which contributes to moral judgments of a person.

Dynamic consent: a royal road to research consent?

In recent years, the principle of informed consent has come under significant pressure with the rise of biobanks and data infrastructures for medical research. Study-specific consent is unfeasible in the...

The Impact of Comparative Moral Superiority on Protagonist Appeal

Four studies examine the appeal of protagonists who are sometimes immoral in real-world (Studies 1 & 2) and fictional (Studies 3 & 4) settings. In both, character appeal is influenced by the combination of moral/immoral behaviors a protagonist performs and their moral/immoral behavior relative to another person’s (i.e., their moral superiority/inferiority). Additionally, Study 2 examines the effect of character behavior (moral/immoral vs. highly self-beneficial) on appeal, finding that if two protagonists are equally immoral, one who elsewise behaves morally at times is more appealing than one who is elsewise self-beneficial. Studies 3 and 4 replicate these findings using a fictional drama and fantasy premise instead of a real-world setting. Findings suggest the effect of characters’ immoral behavior on appeal varies based on the moral behavior of comparison characters regardless of the setting’s fictionality. Discussion considers whether moral superiority alters the likelihood that audiences will emulate an imperfect hero’s immoral actions.

Zhangzhou Immigrants between China and the Spanish: Diplomatic Conversations Concerning the 1603 Incident in Manila

Starting in 1573 with the establishment of Manila, the circulation of Chinese goods along the trans-Pacific route brought the Ming Dynasty and the Spanish Empire into contact. Consequently, many people from Fujian Province, especially Zhangzhou city, went to Manila and facilitated the operation of the city. This paper examines the interactions of Zhangzhou immigrants in Manila, focusing their roles and living situations in Parián, the designated neighborhood for the Sangleys. In particular, the diplomatic conversation concerning the 1603 Incident is analyzed to elucidate how the Sangleys were perceived by both the Ming court and the Spanish governors. Records produced by Chinese elites, local gazetteers, and Spanish correspondence reveal the conflicts and negotiations between the Ming government and officials of the Spanish Empire concerning this matter, as well as local and state differences in views. While the contributions of the Sangleys were recognized and used to promote the moral superiority of both sides, they were not seriously considered by either the Chinese court or the Spanish government. The Sangleys offer a unique perspective on the positioning of these two state powers: Each desired to maintain a peaceful relationship yet simultaneously adopted a cautious stance. This study illuminates some of the connections and conflicts which emerged during early modern globalization.

NEGOTIATIONS IN “CHINESE STYLE”

The article reveals the negotiation tactics of Chinese negotiators and the historical and cultural context of their behavior. The author draws attention to a well-thought-out methodology for collecting information about the views, motives, negotiating position and individual characteristics of foreign colleagues. Representatives of the PRC pay great attention to personal relationships, they try to find out the true intentions of foreigners, and skillfully use moral and psychological tools to influence their interlocutor. When the Chinese want to cooperate with their foreign counterparts, they strive to create the most favorable atmosphere of communication, try to win over them and establish close mutual friendly ties. Representatives of the PRC are very demanding to their “friends” and count on their help and support in many matters. National culture influences the behavior of Chinese negotiators. In particular, it focuses on restraint, control of emotions, “body language,” adherence to the rules of politeness, maintaining calm, restraint and patience. A person must behave in a civilized and dignified manner. The Chinese negotiator should not succumb to provocations, he/she should act thoughtfully, take into account the situation and calculate the benefits and harms of his/her actions. The experience of communicating with the PRC colleagues shows that they can behave harshly, criticize their partners for “wrong” behavior, and exert an “educational” influence on them. Sometimes, foreigners sometimes notice high self-esteem among their Chinese partners, a sense of their intellectual and moral superiority. They perceive this behavior as a tool of pressure on the interlocutor. Foreign observers believe that Chinese negotiators are persistent, resilient, tenacious people who strive to use every opportunity to realize their interests. They use moral means to influence their partner to control the negotiation process and dominate the relationship. Chinese negotiators do not absolutize the significance of the signed agreements and will seek their revision if they see that they can receive additional benefits.

Multivocality and Its Implications for the Representation of Heritage: A Case Study of the Slavery Heritage in Mikindani, Tanzania

This article, by using evidence from the old town of Mikindani in Tanzania, explores multivocality in the memorialization of the slavery heritage in Mikindani. It also looks at how multivocality perpetuates dissonance and shapes cultural negotiations and the people’s strategies for coping with violent memories. It employed the notion of heritage dissonance and integrated heritage discourse and a qualitative case-study design. Thirty-three respondents were interviewed and three focus group discussion sessions were held. The findings support the argument that multivocality is an inherent part of heritage that shapes the dissonance regarding what should be conserved and heritage meaning-making processes. Multivocality and the resultant dissonance are further shaped by a complex mix of demographic dynamics, socio-cultural contexts, including religious values, identity struggles, the community’s articulation of the theoretical apparatus, political contexts, including power relations, the local or state political standing, the cultural heritage management (CHM) approach in place, and economic contexts, including the forward-looking nature of the younger people based on the tourist potential of the heritage. Although the resultant dissonance may be passive, it is embedded with the inert social tensions that may not necessarily be harmful to the heritage, but which provide potential spaces for conducting cultural negotiations that strive to defuse the boundaries of identities and the moral superiority–inferiority dogma. This article notes that multivocality should neither be ignored nor evaded, as it could be embraced as a medium for unlocking the sedimentation of a single discourse, understanding and addressing different experiences and expressions and resolving conflicts. The article also provides practical suggestions to the CHM authorities in Mikindani and related sites, as well as suggestions for further research.

A Problem in the Huntingtonian Universe: The Military Side of the Gap

This article investigates the military side of the civil–military value gap in societies with fully professionalized armed forces. The “Huntingtonian Universe” is a paradigm of civil–military relations in which isolation and alienation of armed forces are inevitable once the military becomes separated not just from politics but from the entire political realm by its full professionalization. It is argued that the emergence of a value gap, a sentiment of moral superiority, and contempt toward civilian society is less probable in societies which rely on mandatory military service, as conscription preserves the necessary link between the military and the political realm by keeping the military profession in constant contact with society via conscripts, that is, “temporary soldiers.” Article offers a potential solution for saving the “Huntingtonian Universe” and the concept of objective control of the military by asserting that the optimal way of solving the problem of civil–military value gap is reinstating conscription along with meaningful changes in military education.

Beneficial effects of communicating intentions when delivering moral criticism: Cognitive and neural responses

People often do not accept criticism on their morality, especially when delivered by outgroup members. In two preregistered studies, we investigated whether people become more receptive to such negative feedback when feedback senders communicate their intention to help. Participants received negative feedback from ostensible others on their selfish (rather than altruistic) decisions in a donation task. We manipulated the identity of a feedback sender (ingroup vs. outgroup) and the intention that they provided for giving feedback. A sender either did not communicate any intentions, indicated the intention to help the feedback receiver improve, or communicated the intention to show moral superiority. We measured participants’ self-reported responses to the feedback (Study 1, N = 44) and additionally recorded an EEG in Study 2 (N = 34). Results showed that when no intentions were communicated, participants assumed worse intentions from outgroup senders than ingroup senders (Study 1). However, group membership had no significant effect once feedback senders made their intentions explicit. Moreover, across studies, when feedback senders communicated their intention to help, participants perceived feedback as less unfair compared with when senders tried to convey their moral superiority. Complementing these results, exploratory event-related potential results of Study 2 suggested that communicating the intention to help reduced participants’ attentional vigilance toward negative feedback messages on their morality (i.e., decreased P200 amplitudes). These results demonstrate the beneficial effects of communicating the intention to help when one tries to encourage others’ moral growth through criticism.

Hubris syndrome and technologies of delegitimation of power

The authors refer to the concept of hubris syndrome, introduced into political lexicon in the 2010s by D. Owen, and understood as a specific disease of “people of power.” The hypothesis of the study is that the attribution of hubris syndrome to a leader by the media and within expert discourse is not based on objective criteria, but is manipulative in nature and is determined by the degree of “perverseness of the political course” in terms of its compliance or non-compliance with universal democratic values. The article reveals the mechanisms of delegitimization of power through the assignment of a number of characteristics to it within the framework of hubris syndrome. As the analysis shows, hubris syndrome is an exclusively political construction, which is broadcast to the general public as a medical concept. Arguments about hubris syndrome are always built on the basis of the oppositional pair “democracy – authoritarianism / tyranny”, as it is understood that democratic regimes themselves, due to their immanent properties (multi-stage institutions of control, change of power, openness, etc.), usually prevent the development of hubris. Reversely, authoritarian and tyrannical regimes automatically turn out to be hubristic ones, which allows democratic regimes, by the right of moral superiority, to correct them in different ways that may even lead to intervention and interference. This scheme finds a historical analogy to the application of the concept of civilizational peoples and states in the civilization/barbarism dichotomy in the 18th-19th centuries, which played a similar function for the West, as described by S. Huntington. The discrepancy between the formal definition of hubris syndrome and the use of the concept in politics is obvious. A highly manipulative construct embodies the tactics of de-legitimization of a political leader if he/ she ceases to comply with the norms of a certain cultural and historical chronotope. The authors draw attention to the specific linguistic markers of hubris syndrome in political communication and the ways in which any politician whose speech contains these units can be declared suffering from hubris syndrome.

The Brethren of Purity on Justice for Animals and the Moral Demands of Rational Hierarchy

abstract: This paper intervenes in a contemporary debate on the animal ethics of the Brethren of Purity's (Iḫwān al-Ṣafāʾ) epistle on animals. I argue that they present a case for justice for animals by rejecting the fallacious link between ontological superiority and moral superiority. Since human beings are vice-regents of God and since the rational soul is the vice-regent, the Brethren's account of human beings as superior in virtue of their rationality establishes a moral obligation toward animals. The Brethren develop this account partially under the influence of the Muʿtazilī theological tradition, and as a result, their position falls in line with other positions on justice for animals found during their time. Even on the issue of animal use, the Brethren maintain that the human need for animal labor emphasizes the obligation to treat animals justly. In the end, the greater rational capacity of human beings entails greater moral responsibility toward animals, not moral impunity.

Racial rhetoric in black and white: situational whiteness in Francoist Spanish Guinea through Misión blanca

ABSTRACT This essay analyzes through the interactions of its racially encoded characters under the lens of whiteness. The objective is to locate the representational strategies that Francoist cultural production used to convey moral superiority through racial teachings. The study specifically examines Francoist practices of racial representation to suggest how Spanish whiteness may have been traditionally situational; that is, conceived as a highly rhetorical cultural tactic to assimilate non-whites into the fringes of Spanish whiteness, which in this historical period led to the totalization and silencing of racial dissidence. As a result, the essay will demonstrate how Francoist cinema displayed rhetorical race notions and situational whiteness in Africa to build relationships of moral superiority with regard to Spain’s European counterparts.

Pourquoi les convictions morales facilitent le dogmatisme, l’intolérance et la violence

ObjectivesThis theoretical essay attempts to explain, from an interdisciplinary naturalistic perspective that integrates the biological and social sciences, why and how beliefs associated with moral values can lead to dogmatism, intolerant opinions and attitudes, and can motivate violent collective actions. MethodThe article relies on an integrative analysis of the empirical literature, drawing on 138 articles (78% published in the last eight years) in anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, political science, and sociology to explain why and how moralization strongly increases the strength of beliefs and attitudes – in certainty and importance – which, in turn, motivates social engagement and induces attitudinal extremism regardless of ideological or political affiliation. ResultsMoral convictions are perceived as objective, absolute, necessary, universal, and infallible truths with strong links to emotions, the reward circuit, and the value system in the brain that motivates and controls behavior. Moral values are generally shared with other members of one's community and, therefore, linked to social identity. Perceived social consensus is an important input to objectivity. Objectively grounded moral principles generate an expectation of consensus, which can lead to intolerance and hostility regarding anyone who disagrees. Moral convictions motivate participation in collective action and inspire the courage to oppose perceived injustices, real or imagined, despite a personal cost. Cognitive rigidity is often a characteristic of moral convictions. Once an issue is moralized and considered objective, whether in the social, economic, or political domains, it is more likely to be perceived as an absolute belief, held with high confidence, and immune to corrective information. People who are highly confident in their beliefs are more prone to confirmation bias, making them dogmatic with a sense of moral superiority and less willing to seek or consider corrective information regardless of the accuracy of their beliefs. Specific neural signatures and low-level cognitive dispositions are reliably associated with personality orientations prone to political and social dogmatic attitudes. DiscussionOpinions and attitudes, when moralized, can easily make people dogmatic and intolerant. Moral convictions can serve as mandates that facilitate political activism with extreme and often negative views. The conjunction of moral conviction and identity-based ideology is largely responsible for driving the contemporary hostile affective polarization of opinions. The lack of cognitive flexibility explains the failure to update, calibrate, and discard previous beliefs. This metacognitive overconfidence contributes to a dispositional tendency toward dogmatic intolerance. This makes it easier for people who are extreme in their political attitudes, regardless of political affiliation, to perceive their beliefs as moral absolutes (actions are intrinsically right or wrong, regardless of context or consequence) that reflect an objective, universal truth. ConclusionWhen a social, economic, or political issue is moralized, it becomes more difficult to integrate pragmatic aspects that consider risks, benefits, costs, and consequences. Moral convictions are, therefore, a double-edged sword with both constructive and destructive effects. Given that moral beliefs are often associated with the acceptance of any means to achieve preferred goals, a more comprehensive understanding of how and why they promote constructive but also sometimes destructive forms of social engagement is an important program for interdisciplinary scientific research. Moral conviction is a catalyst that turns beliefs into action, for better and for worse.