The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment

<p>Classic sacrificial moral dilemmas, in which it is necessary to sacrifice a life of one person in order to save several other lives, are often defined by the conflict between the rational response of maximizing aggregate welfare (utilitarian moral judgment) and emotional aversion to harm (d...

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Main Authors: Ana Rožić, Domagoj Švegar, Igor Kardum
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Rijeka 2018-12-01
Series:Psychological Topics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://pt.ffri.hr/index.php/pt/article/view/443
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author Ana Rožić
Domagoj Švegar
Igor Kardum
author_facet Ana Rožić
Domagoj Švegar
Igor Kardum
author_sort Ana Rožić
collection DOAJ
description <p>Classic sacrificial moral dilemmas, in which it is necessary to sacrifice a life of one person in order to save several other lives, are often defined by the conflict between the rational response of maximizing aggregate welfare (utilitarian moral judgment) and emotional aversion to harm (deontological moral judgment). Recent research in moral judgment shows that socially aversive personality styles are associated with utilitarian response to moral dilemmas. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits and moral judgment, as well as the mediation effect of emotional empathy on that relationship. Two hundred and ten people participated in the study, aged 18-68 years (147 women and 63 men). The results showed that higher psychopathy and higher Machiavellianism are associated with greater endorsement of utilitarian judgment. We found no association between narcissism and moral judgment. Women scored higher on emotional empathy, and men on psychopathy and had higher endorsement of utilitarian judgment. Higher emotional empathy is associated with lower narcissism, lower Machiavellianism and lower psychopathy as well as lower utilitarian judgment. Lower emotional empathy is a significant mediator of the relationship between Machiavellianism and psychopathy and greater endorsement of utilitarian judgment. The effects of the Dark Triad personality traits and emotional empathy on judgment are discussed.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-a0b8b39725014c7cb33ca0364071506d2022-12-22T03:17:10ZengUniversity of RijekaPsychological Topics1332-07422018-12-01273561583201The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral JudgmentAna Rožić0Domagoj Švegar1Igor Kardum2Sveučilište u Rijeci, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za psihologijuSveučilište u Rijeci, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za psihologijuSveučilište u Rijeci, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za psihologiju<p>Classic sacrificial moral dilemmas, in which it is necessary to sacrifice a life of one person in order to save several other lives, are often defined by the conflict between the rational response of maximizing aggregate welfare (utilitarian moral judgment) and emotional aversion to harm (deontological moral judgment). Recent research in moral judgment shows that socially aversive personality styles are associated with utilitarian response to moral dilemmas. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits and moral judgment, as well as the mediation effect of emotional empathy on that relationship. Two hundred and ten people participated in the study, aged 18-68 years (147 women and 63 men). The results showed that higher psychopathy and higher Machiavellianism are associated with greater endorsement of utilitarian judgment. We found no association between narcissism and moral judgment. Women scored higher on emotional empathy, and men on psychopathy and had higher endorsement of utilitarian judgment. Higher emotional empathy is associated with lower narcissism, lower Machiavellianism and lower psychopathy as well as lower utilitarian judgment. Lower emotional empathy is a significant mediator of the relationship between Machiavellianism and psychopathy and greater endorsement of utilitarian judgment. The effects of the Dark Triad personality traits and emotional empathy on judgment are discussed.</p>http://pt.ffri.hr/index.php/pt/article/view/443Dark Triad personality traitsemotional empathymoral judgmentsacrificial moral dilemmas
spellingShingle Ana Rožić
Domagoj Švegar
Igor Kardum
The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment
Psychological Topics
Dark Triad personality traits
emotional empathy
moral judgment
sacrificial moral dilemmas
title The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment
title_full The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment
title_fullStr The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment
title_short The Effects of Dark Triad Personality Traits and Emotional Empathy on Moral Judgment
title_sort effects of dark triad personality traits and emotional empathy on moral judgment
topic Dark Triad personality traits
emotional empathy
moral judgment
sacrificial moral dilemmas
url http://pt.ffri.hr/index.php/pt/article/view/443
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