SONATA 17

Key Research Questions

1. How does egocentrism influence moral character judgments?

   • Do individuals perceive morally questionable actions as less immoral when those actions serve their own interests?

2. What are the underlying mechanisms of egocentric biases in moral judgments?

   • Does automatic vs. controlled processing determine the strength of egocentric influences?

3. Can egocentric biases in moral judgments be reduced?

   • Do education, accountability, or accuracy motivation help individuals make more objective moral evaluations?

4. Do individual differences affect susceptibility to egocentric biases?

   • Are people with high moral identity less prone to egocentric moral biases?

   • Does narcissism or dispositional greed increase egocentric tendencies?

Methods & Approach

• Experimental studies manipulating self-interest, cognitive load, and time pressure.

• Measuring automatic vs. deliberate processing of moral judgments using physiological and behavioral methods.

• Testing debiasing strategies, such as educating participants about moral biases and requiring justification for moral judgments.

• Investigating individual differences (e.g., moral identity, narcissism, greed) in susceptibility to egocentric moral bias.