Agreement on the Perception of Moral Character

Abstract

This study tested for inter-judge agreement on moral character. A sample of students and community members rated their own moral character using a measure that tapped six moral character traits. Friends, family members, and/or acquaintances rated these targets on the same traits. Self/other and inter-informant agreement was found at the trait level for both a general character factor and for residual variance explained by individual moral character traits, as well as the individual level (judges agreed on targets' "moral character profiles"). Observed inter-judge agreement constitutes evidence for the existence of moral character, and raises questions about the nature of moral character traits.

Hadza Hunter-Gatherers Disagree on Perceptions of Moral Character

“…In WEIRD societies, people evaluate the moral character of others and use those perceptions to decide with whom to interact. Underscoring the importance of character in these populations, independent observers agree on how moral others are (Helzer et al, 2014). But is this universal?…”

“…However, more recent research in moral psychology has argued that moral character does in fact exist (Fleeson, Furr, Jayawickreme, Meindl, & Helzer, 2014). In Western societies, people agree on who is moral (Helzer et al, 2014), and perceptions of moral character play an important role in social cognition (Goodwin, 2015; Landy & Uhlmann, 2018). Our results here question the universality of moral character and its centrality in social life and highlight the importance of cross-cultural research using underrepresented samples.…”

“…In a U.S. community sample, self-report and informant ratings of morally relevant traits, such as honesty or guilt-proneness, moderately correlate (Cohen, Panter, Turan, Morse, & Kim, 2013). Independent observers in U.S. community samples also agree on global evaluations of moral character, as well as specific moral traits and trait profiles (Helzer et al, 2014). And U.S. online workers agree on moral traits displayed by cultural figures, even across the U.S. political divide (Frimer, Biesanz, Walker, & MacKinlay, 2013).…”

Disagreement About Moral Character Is Linked to Interpersonal Costs

“…As shown in Figure 1, the a 1 coefficient tests the linear slope along the line of perfect agreement ( Y = X -axis) and reveals if matching self- and other impressions at higher versus lower levels of moral character is associated with higher or lower social value. Given that moral character impressions are socially desirable (Goodwin et al, 2014; Helzer et al, 2014), the a 1 should be positive, suggesting that social value is higher when self- and other impressions match at higher levels of moral character and lower when matched at lower levels of moral character. The a 2 coefficient tests the curvature of the line of perfect agreement and reveals if matches at low or high moral character (i.e., matches at extremes) are different than matches at moderate levels of moral character.…”

Morality as a Basic Psychological Need

“…Despite Steele's (1988) proposal that people's desire to see themselves as morally adequate drives selfaffirmation processes, to our knowledge research has not treated moral adequacy as a specific motivator of selfaffirmation. Demonstrations that morality is a key evaluative character trait (e.g., Goodwin, 2015;Helzer et al, 2014) suggest it may be prolific, but this is tenuous to the extent that traits and needs are divergent constructs.…”