Penn State University, United States.
Penn State University, United States.
Soc Sci Res. 2023 Feb;110:102848. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102848. Epub 2023 Jan 26.
Affirmative action has long been a contentious issue in the United States. Using data from a 2021 national YouGov sample of 1125 U.S. adults, we are the first to examine the effect of moral intuitions on people's support for affirmative action in college admissions. We find that those with strong individualizing moral intuitions-a heightened general concern with avoiding harm and mistreatment of people-are more likely to support affirmative action. We find that its effect is mediated in large part by beliefs in the extent of systemic racism, as those with strong individualizing moral intuitions are more likely to also believe that systemic racism is pervasive, and also partly by low levels of racial resentment. Conversely, those with strong binding moral intuitions-a heightened concern with the cohesion of social groups-are less likely to support affirmative action. This effect is also mediated by belief in the extent of systemic racism and racial resentment, as those with strong binding moral intuitions are more likely to believe both that the system is fair and have higher levels of racial resentment. Our study suggests that future work should consider the role of moral intuitions in shaping people's views of contentious social policies.
平权行动在美国一直是一个有争议的问题。我们利用 2021 年 YouGov 对 1125 名美国成年人进行的全国性抽样调查的数据，首次考察了道德直觉对人们支持大学招生平权行动的影响。我们发现，那些具有强烈个体化道德直觉的人（更普遍地关注避免伤害和虐待他人）更有可能支持平权行动。我们发现，其影响在很大程度上是通过对系统性种族主义程度的信念来介导的，因为那些具有强烈个体化道德直觉的人更有可能认为系统性种族主义是普遍存在的，同时也部分受到种族仇恨程度低的影响。相反，那些具有强烈约束道德直觉的人（更关注社会群体的凝聚力）不太可能支持平权行动。这种影响也受到对系统性种族主义和种族仇恨程度的信念的影响，因为那些具有强烈约束道德直觉的人更有可能相信制度是公平的，并且具有更高水平的种族仇恨。我们的研究表明，未来的工作应该考虑道德直觉在塑造人们对有争议的社会政策的看法方面的作用。
