People who intentionally hurt others because they believe they are morally right or justified, do not respond rationally to material benefits, a new study reports. Researchers say those who punish others to signal their own "moral goodness" may be more likely to question their claims of moral righteousness when judged negatively by their peers.
Study reports young infants can make and act on moral judgments, shedding new light on the origins of human morality.
When presented with a moral decision in their native language by people with a foreign accent, people tend to make more rational decisions.
A new study reveals there may be a common underlying genetic basis underlying a person's disapproval of non-committal sexual behaviors and condemnation of recreational drug use. Findings shed light on how heredity may relate to some of our deepest moral stances.
Reading about moral characteristics helps teens absorb those traits as building blocks for their own morality, a new study reports.
Study will focus on the social and cultural reasons that drive parents to mislead or induce false beliefs in their children.
Both sleep and seizures reduce heart rate, a new study into mortality and epilepsy reveal. Seizures also disrupt the natural regulation of sleep-related changes. This can sometimes prove deadly and increase the risk of sudden death in epilepsy patients.
People consider moral decisions made by humanoid robots to be less ethically sound than when another human or traditional-looking robot makes the same decision.
Atheists are more likely to believe the morality of an action is based on its consequences, while theists are more inclined to endorse moral values that promote group cohesion. Both believers and non-believers share moral values related to protecting vulnerable individuals and liberty versus oppression, a new study concludes.
Children as young as four are more willing to make personal sacrifices to punish those who do wrong, especially if they believe the punishment will teach the transgressor a lesson.
People with strong moral and political convictions who saw images of protestors congruent to their own views showed activation in the brain's reward system. The study suggests violent acts in political protests can arise as a desire to act morally, rather than from bad intentions.
People make automatic and efficient decisions when learning to avoid others. When learning to avoid harming themselves, people make become more deliberative. The study also found people were more willing to repeat decisions that were previously harmful to themselves if they believed better results would occur in the future.