Department of Psychology, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73072, USA.
Division of General Medical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2020 Feb;26(1):27-63. doi: 10.1007/s11948-018-00082-z. Epub 2019 Jan 3.
Research has examined various cognitive processes underlying ethical decision-making, and has recently begun to focus on the differential effects of specific emotions. The present study examines three self-focused moral emotions and their influence on ethical decision-making: guilt, shame, and embarrassment. Given the potential of these discrete emotions to exert positive or negative effects in decision-making contexts, we also examined their effects on ethical decisions after a cognitive reappraisal emotion regulation intervention. Participants in the study were presented with an ethical scenario and were induced, or not induced, to feel guilt, shame, or embarrassment, and were asked to reappraise, or not reappraise, the situation giving rise to those emotions. Responses to questions about the ethical case were evaluated for the quality of ethical sensemaking, perceptions of moral intensity, and decision ethicality. Findings indicate that guilt, shame, and embarrassment are associated with different sensemaking processes and metacognitive reasoning strategies, and resulted in different perceptions of moral intensity. Additionally, cognitive reappraisal had a negative impact on each of these factors. Implications of these findings for ethical decision-making research are discussed.
研究已经考察了道德决策背后的各种认知过程，并最近开始关注特定情绪的差异影响。本研究考察了三种自我关注的道德情绪及其对道德决策的影响：内疚、羞耻和尴尬。鉴于这些离散情绪在决策情境中可能产生积极或消极的影响，我们还考察了在认知重评情绪调节干预后，它们对道德决策的影响。研究中的参与者被呈现一个道德情景，并被诱导或不被诱导产生内疚、羞耻或尴尬的情绪，并被要求重新评估或不重新评估引起这些情绪的情况。对有关伦理案例的问题的回答进行了评估，以了解伦理意义的质量、道德强度的感知以及决策的道德性。研究结果表明，内疚、羞耻和尴尬与不同的意义建构过程和元认知推理策略相关联，并且导致对道德强度的不同感知。此外，认知重评对这些因素都产生了负面影响。这些发现对道德决策研究的意义进行了讨论。
