Abstract
Objectives
Although many societies endorse objectivity in moral judgment and punishment, humans are frequently influenced by deep-rooted biases, such that superficially irrelevant factors can influence moral judgment and decision making. Hunger is a fundamental source of motivation and is known to redirect behavior in other domains. The present research aims to test whether hunger influences moral judgments and punishments.
Method
We first report results from four pilot studies (n = 1354) which, taken together, imply a positive relationship between self-reported hunger and harsher moral judgment. The main preregistered study then examined the effect of experimentally induced hunger on judicial sentencing and moral judgments. Hunger was manipulated by asking 246 undergraduates to not eat for at least four hours before the study. Participants in the Satiated condition received a snack before taking questionnaires, while those in the Hungry condition were given the same snack after responding to the questionnaires.
Results
Contrary to our pre-registered predictions, participants in the Hungry condition recommended significantly more lenient punishments, while the manipulation had no effect on moral judgment.
Conclusions
Overall, the results suggest caution regarding previous findings indicating that hungry people punish more, and offer tentative evidence of the opposite effect under some conditions. We discuss possible reasons for the apparent inconsistencies between studies.
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Notes
Data and syntax for these pilot studies are available at: https://osf.io/xjnu2/?view_only=afeee80cd62448f88229abb21a5a0ed4
Data, materials, and syntax, as well as predictions and analysis plans for the study are publicly accessible at: https://osf.io/xjnu2/?view_only=afeee80cd62448f88229abb21a5a0ed4.
Given that the two DVs may be more appropriately represented as their weighted composites, we re-ran these analyses using the main factor extracted from a principal components analysis for each DV. This did not meaningfully impact the results of the analyses. In two ANOVAs, controlling for SES, there still emerged a main effect of condition on Punishment, F(1,220) = 5.18, p = .02, partial η2 = .02, and no effect of condition on Moral Vigilance, F(1,210) = 0.26, p = .61, partial η2 = .00. Using these composites in place of the averaged item scores reported in the main text also made no meaningful difference to the bivariate associations between these measures and self-reported hunger.
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Kerry, N., Loria, R.N. & Murray, D.R. Gluttons for Punishment? Experimentally Induced Hunger Unexpectedly Reduces Harshness of Suggested Punishments. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology 5, 352–370 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-019-00121-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-019-00121-4