Moral Intuitions: Morality Subcultures in Disposition Formation

This study tested the relationship between morality and disposition formation proposed by disposition theory using intuitive moral intuitions as indicators of membership in a morality subculture. After completing a measure of intuitive morality, participants read a short scenario varying the morality of a character’s behavior, and then rated their moral approbation of the behavior and liking for the character. Results indicated that moral approbation mediated the relationship between character behavior and character disposition, and that intuitive morality moderated this relationship for the violation condition. Findings highlight the importance of moral intuitions in disposition formation processes, and support the use of intuitive morality in understanding responses to media characters.