The DOI matches its Crossref record; 68 of the 70 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Patterns of Moral Judgment Derive From Nonmoral Psychological Representations
Open accessAbstract
Ordinary people often make moral judgments that are consistent with philosophical principles and legal distinctions. For example, they judge killing as worse than letting die, and harm caused as a necessary means to a greater good as worse than harm caused as a side-effect (Cushman, Young, & Hauser, 2006). Are these patterns of judgment produced by mechanisms specific to the moral domain, or do they derive from other psychological domains? We show that the action/omission and means/side-effect distinctions affect nonmoral representations and provide evidence that their role in moral judgment is mediated by these nonmoral psychological representations. Specifically, the action/omission distinction affects moral judgment primarily via causal attribution, while the means/side-effect distinction affects moral judgment via intentional attribution. We suggest that many of the specific patterns evident in our moral judgments in fact derive from nonmoral psychological mechanisms, and especially from the processes of causal and intentional attribution.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Harmful actions are judged more harshly than harmful inactions 179,180 ,”
From Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response (2020) · cites this paper as [179]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 · Cited by 91,532
The psychology of interpersonal relations
Heider, F. (1958) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2089062 · Cited by 17,189
The psychology of interpersonal relations.
Heider, F. (1958) · doi:10.1037/10628-000 · Cited by 13,457
Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.84.3.231 · Cited by 11,317 · cited 2×
“Waldmann and Dieterich (2007) point out that harm as a means typically involves causal intervention on the harmed victim, whereas harm as a side-effect typically involves causal intervention on the harming agent.”
BackgroundThe Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism
Trivers, R. L. (1971) · The Quarterly Review of Biology · doi:10.1086/406755 · Cited by 11,010
The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.
Haidt, J. (2001) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.4.814 · Cited by 8,048
Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes
Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.102.1.4 · Cited by 6,682
An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral Judgment
Greene, J. D., Sommerville, R. B., Nystrom, L. E., Darley, J. M., & Cohen, J. D. (2001) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1062872 · Cited by 4,561
The Moral Judgment Of The Child
Piaget, J. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315009681 · Cited by 4,409
The unbearable automaticity of being
Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (1999) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.54.7.462 · Cited by 3,699 · cited 1×
“…al., 2007; Mikhail, 2000; Wheatley & Haidt, 2005), reflecting the inaccessibility of automatic processes to cognitive awareness along with a general psychological tendency for post hoc rationalization and confabulation (Bargh, 1999; Greenwald & Banaji, 1995; Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; Wegner, 2002).”
Background
Research works printed but not linked: 10
- Cushman, in press, Crime and punishment: Distinguishing the roles of causal and intentional analyses in moral judgment, Cognition, 108, 353, 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.03.006 · DOI · Paper page
- Cushman, in press, Social psychology of morality: The origins of good and evil
- Fischer, 1992, Ethics: Problems and principles
- Hart, 1959, Causation in the law
- Hauser, 2006, Moral minds: How nature designed a universal sense right and wrong
- Hauser, 2008, Moral psychology, 107
- Kohlberg, 1981, Essays on moral development, Volume 1: The philosophy of moral development
- Loewy, 2003, Criminal law
- Pinker, 2007, The stuff of thought
- Sperber, 1995, Causal cognition, xv
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–177 of 177
Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J. (2019) · Projections · doi:10.3167/proj.2019.130105 · Cited by 5
The disunity of moral judgment: Implications for the study of psychopathy
Sackris, D. C. (2022) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2022.2155125 · Cited by 6
Assessing and dissociating virtues from the ‘bottom up’: A case study of generosity vs. fairness
Kraft-Todd, G. T., Kleiman-Weiner, M., & Young, L. (2023) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2022.2154254 · Cited by 7
Self-citationExperimental Metaphysics: Causation
Henne, P. (2023) · De Gruyter eBooks · doi:10.1515/9783110716931-007 · Cited by 6
Womick, J., Kubin, E., Goya‐Tocchetto, D., Ochoa, N. R., Rebollar, C., Kapsaskis, K., Pratt, S., Devine, H., Payne, K., Vaisey, S., et al. (2024) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/qsg7j · Cited by 6
An investigation of the use of linguistic probes “by” and “in order to” in assessing moral grammar
Watkins, H. M., & Laham, S. M. (2015) · Thinking & Reasoning · doi:10.1080/13546783.2015.1046489 · Cited by 5
It’s personal: The effect of personal value on utilitarian moral judgments
Millar, C. J., Starmans, C., Fugelsang, J. A., & Friedman, O. (2016) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500003752 · Cited by 5
Cameron, S., Wilks, M., & Nielsen, M. (2023) · Social Development · doi:10.1111/sode.12675 · Cited by 5
Why do people seem to be more utilitarian in VR than in questionnaires?
Maćkiewicz, B., Wodowski, J., & Andrusiewicz, J. (2023) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2023.2282060 · Cited by 6
Feedback from moral philosophy to cognitive science
Rini, R. A. (2013) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2013.864454 · Cited by 5
Beyond Value in Moral Phenomenology: The Role of Epistemic and Control Experiences
Cornwell, J. F. M., & Higgins, E. T. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02430 · Cited by 5
Complexity of heart rate variability during moral judgement of actions and omissions
Arutyunova, K. R., Bakhchina, A. V., Sozinova, I. M., & Alexandrov, Y. I. (2020) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05394 · Cited by 5
Rational Hypocrisy: A Bayesian Analysis Based on Informal Argumentation and Slippery Slopes
Rai, T. S., & Holyoak, K. J. (2014) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/cogs.12120 · Cited by 6
Verdiesen, I. (2017) · Research Repository (Delft University of Technology) · Cited by 5
From virtue epistemology to abilism: theoretical and empirical developmentsPreprint
Turri, J. (2020) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/8r3pt · Cited by 5
Warmer Individuals Get More Help: The Influence of Stereotypes and Empathy on Moral Decision-Making
Tan, Q., Huang, Y., Ling, Z., Zhan, Y., & Zhou, H. (2023) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/00332941231152386 · Cited by 4
Mosca, A., Miuli, A., Mancusi, G., Chiappini, S., Stigliano, G., Pasquale, A., Petta, G. D., Bubbico, G., Pasino, A., Pettorruso, M., et al. (2023) · Social Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17470919.2023.2242096 · Cited by 5
The Relationship Between Social Cognition and Moral Reasoning
Uttich, K. (2012) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 4
Asymmetry and symmetry of acts and omissions in punishment, norms, and judged causality
Handfield, T., Thrasher, J., Corcoran, A. W., & Nichols, S. (2021) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/s1930297500007993 · Cited by 3
Is the moral domain unique? A social influence perspective for the study of moral cognition
Lees, J., & Gino, F. (2017) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12327
Sackris, D. C., & Larsen, R. R. (2023) · European journal of analytic philosophy · doi:10.31820/ejap.19.2.1 · Cited by 3
Ndubuisi, B., & Byrne, R. M. J. (2013) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 3
Moreno, C. (2020) · Revista Colombiana de Psicología · doi:10.15446/.v29n1.76536 · Cited by 5
Emotions and beliefs about morality can change one another
Bucciarelli, M., & Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2019) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102880 · Cited by 5
Norm conflicts and morality: The CNIS Conflict model of moral decision-making
Skovgaard‐Olsen, N., & Klauer, K. C. (2026) · Judgment and Decision Making · doi:10.1017/jdm.2026.10030 · Cited by 4
Theory: A Sociological Dual-Process Model of Outcomes
Vila‐Henninger, L. A. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88278-5_5 · Cited by 2
Dissolving the moral-conventional distinction
Sackris, D. C. (2024) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2024.2395368 · Cited by 3
The Role of the Primary Effect in the Assessment of Intentionality and Morality
Waldmann, M. R., & Wiegmann, A. (2012) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 2
Responsibility amplifies empathic forecasts.
Gonzalez, F. J., Jung, M.-A. H., & Critcher, C. R. (2020) · Journal of experimental psychology. General · doi:10.1037/xge0000976 · Cited by 1
Are There “Aesthetic” Judgments?
Sackris, D. C., & Larsen, R. R. (2023) · Erkenntnis · doi:10.1007/s10670-023-00663-w · Cited by 2
Acting wide awake: Attention and the ethics of emotion
Davis, J. H. (2014) · CUNY Academic Works (City University of New York) · Cited by 2
The Structure and Development of Logical Representations in Thought and Language
Feiman, R. (2015) · Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) · Cited by 2
From virtue epistemology to abilism: theoretical and empirical developmentsPreprint
Turri, J. (2020) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/r5htu · Cited by 2
What Dilemma? Moral Evaluation Shapes Factual BeliefPreprint
Liu, B., & Ditto, P. H. (2011) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1829825 · Cited by 2
What does my group consider moral?: How social influence shapes moral expressionsPreprint
del Rosario, K., Bavel, J. J. V., & West, T. V. (2024) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/dwzq2 · Cited by 3
Bonicalzi, S., Kulakova, E., Brozzo, C., Gilbert, S. J., & Haggard, P. (2022) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2021.2021165 · Cited by 1
Kulakova, E., Bonicalzi, S., Williams, A. L., & Haggard, P. (2024) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2024.103762 · Cited by 1
Lyashevsky, I. (2018) · Columbia Academic Commons (Columbia University) · doi:10.7916/d8mp6kd6 · Cited by 2
Beliefs and emotions about social conventions
Bucciarelli, M., & Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2020) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103184 · Cited by 2
Spring, V. L., Cameron, C. D., Gray, K. J., & Lindquist, K. A. (2017) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x16000856 · Cited by 1
Baron, J. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.011 · Cited by 1
The spirit is noble, but the flesh is corrupt: lay beliefs about the bases of (im)moral behavior
Cruz, F., & Mata, A. (2025) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2025.2494585 · Cited by 1
No privileged link between intentionality and causation: Generalizable effects of agency in language
Joo, S., Yousif, S. R., Martin, F., Keil, F. C., & Knobe, J. (2025) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106225 · Cited by 1
Alhassan, M. A. (2022) · Athens Journal of Education · doi:10.30958/aje.9-2-8 · Cited by 1
No privileged link between intentionality and causation: Generalizable effects of agency in languagePreprint
Joo, S., Yousif, S. R., Martin, F., Keil, F. C., & Knobe, J. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/zbvxd · Cited by 1
Motive, Character and the Moral Good: Elaboration on a Footnote
Philip, T. J. (2014) · Otago University Research Archive (University of Otago)
Die Persönlichkeit und ihre Werte: Gut für Überraschungen?
Wahl, K. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-55407-0_4
P457/P654 Readings in the Science of Morality
Kruschke, J. K. (2011)
Modelo constitutivo del juicio moral de Jesse Prinz: Una lectura crítica
Bohórquez, J. O. T. (2017) · Praxis Filosófica Nueva Serie · doi:10.25100/pfilosofica.v0i44.4351 · Cited by 1
OMISSIONS, CAUSATION, AND MODALITY
Henne, P. (2019)
Comportamento moral e responder relacional
Vasconcelos, Í. G. (2020) · doi:10.11606/t.47.2020.tde-28052020-193507
Arutyunova, K. R., Bakhchina, A. V., Sozinova, I. M., & Alexandrov, Y. I. (2020) · Conference of the European Study Group on Cardiovascular Oscillations (ESGCO) · doi:10.1109/esgco49734.2020.9158022
Observing and influencing preferences in real time. Gaze, morality and dynamic decision-making
Pärnamets, P. (2015) · Lund University Publications (Lund University)
Familial Guilt: Judgments of Collective Family Responsibility in the United States and South KoreaPreprint
Lee, J.-H., & Holyoak, K. J. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/c5yb9
Vila‐Henninger, L. A. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88278-5_6
Juan Carlos Marulanda, H. (2022) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-9430
The role of causal representations in moral judgment
Engelmann, N. (2022) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-9433
Power triggers moral reasoning aligned with active goals and moral flexibility across contexts
Zheng, M., & Guinote, A. (2022) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.12888 · Cited by 1
The Role of Structure-Seeking in Moral Punishment
Stanley, M. L., Huang, S., Marsh, E. J., & Kay, A. C. (2023) · Social Justice Research · doi:10.1007/s11211-023-00416-8
Huff, C., & Furchert, A. (2023) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118817995.ch1
Skirting the Sacred: Moral Contexts Increase the Cost of Intentional MisunderstandingsPreprint
Parece, K., Bridgers, S., Qian, P., Schulz, L., & Ullman, T. D. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/w4jz2
People accept breaks in the causal chain between crime and punishment
Baaj, L., de Vondervoort, J. W. V., Turri, J., & Friedman, O. (2024) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-024-01528-5
Efficacious methods of restraining COVID-19 through behavioral public policy
Управителев, А. А. (2023) · Journal of the New Economic Association · doi:10.31737/22212264_2023_4_203-222
Marulanda‐Hernández, J. C., Wiegmann, A., & Waldmann, M. R. (2024) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.3072
Acceptable finger pointing: How evaluators judge the ethicality of blame shifting
Antonetti, P., & Baghi, I. (2024) · European Management Review · doi:10.1111/emre.12678
Niemi, L., & Nichols, S. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.010
Malle, B., & Robbins, P. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.009
Skirting the Sacred: Moral Contexts Increase the Cost of Intentional MisunderstandingsPreprint
Parece, K., Bridgers, S., Qian, P., Schulz, L., & Ullman, T. D. (2025) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/w4jz2_v2
Berryman, K. (2025) · Asian Philosophy · doi:10.1080/09552367.2025.2597622
Personal and Impersonal Moral Dilemmas: Explanatory Models and Distinction Criteria
Shabalin, A. P. (2025) · Reflexio · doi:10.25205/2658-4506-2024-17-1-41-61
Arai, K. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-95-5421-8_12
Teleology Predicts Intuitive Judgments of LiabilityPreprint
Gill, M., & Keil, F. C. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6837680
БИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ ОСНОВАНИЯ ЭТИКИ И МОРАЛИ
СТРОЕВ, С. А. (2026) · Reputaciologiâ. · doi:10.34925/2071-9094.2026.79.1.004
Kim, H., Zlatev, J. J., & Miller, D. T. (2026) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672261472937
Sakhnevich, S. V. (2026) · SibScript · doi:10.21603/sibscript-2026-28-4-683-699
Sahan, F., Brandhorst, F., Kupetz, B., Stephani, H. M., Panitz, K., Kalenscher, T., & Apolinário-Hagen, J. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.111840
Metadata
- Authors
- Cushman, F., & Young, L.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cushman, Fiery
- Venue
- Cognitive Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-01-31
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1052-1075
- ISSN
- 0364-0213 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2133646840
- Cited by
- 179
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 7.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Cognitive Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Harvard University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Ethics in Business and Education
- Keywords
- moral judgment, causal attribution, intentional attribution, killing versus letting die, moral intuitions
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Humans, Judgment, Morals, Social Perception, Intention, Theory of Mind
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
