Affect and Morality

Abstract

Principles of attribution do not always apply equally in all cultures. In the present research, we use the Kantian approach of perfect and imperfect duty violations to assess how attributions are made in the United States and Korea. Perfect duties are actions that moral people are required to do, whereas imperfect duties, although not required, are actions expected of moral people. In Experiment 1, we assessed whether there were cross-cultural differences in response to perfect and imperfect duty violations. In Experiment 2, we explored the mediating role of affect in these differences. In Experiment 3, we manipulated affect to test alternative explanations for the results of Experiment 2. Results show that the process of making moral attributions differs between Americans and Koreans, and this difference is due to Koreans requiring comparatively more negative affect before making a moral attribution. Implications for cross-cultural research are discussed.