The Paradox of Viral Outrage
Abstract
Moral outrage has traditionally served a valuable social function, expressing group values and inhibiting deviant behavior, but the exponential dynamics of Internet postings make this expression of legitimate individual outrage appear excessive and unjust. The same individual outrage that would be praised in isolation is more likely to be viewed as bullying when echoed online by a multitude of similar responses, as it then seems to contribute to disproportionate group condemnation. Participants ( N = 3,377) saw racist, sexist, or unpatriotic posts with accompanying expressions of outrage and formed impressions of a single commenter. The same commenter was viewed more negatively when accompanied by a greater number of commenters (i.e., when outrage was viral vs. nonviral), and this was because viral outrage elicited greater sympathy toward the initial offender. We examined this effect and its underlying processes across six studies.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
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 larger the number of people who publicly criticize a moral transgression, the more likely third parties are to empathize with the original perpetrator.
“The larger the number of people who publicly criticize a moral transgression, the more likely third parties are to empathize with the original perpetrator of the transgression; this is known as”
From Social Media and Morality. (2024) · cites this paper as Sawaoka & Monin 2018
Cites
Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1015 · Cited by 5,965 · see citing works
Altruistic punishment in humans
Fehr, E., & Gächter, S. (2002) · Nature · doi:10.1038/415137a · Cited by 5,616 · see citing works
Handbook of Affective Sciences
(2002) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780195126013.001.0001 · Cited by 5,104 · see citing works
Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority
Asch, S. E. (1956) · Psychological Monographs: General and Applied · doi:10.1037/h0093718 · Cited by 4,267 · see citing works
Influence : science and practice
Cialdini, R. B. (1985) · Cited by 3,581 · see citing works
Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P., & Fong, G. T. (2005) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.845 · Cited by 2,452 · see citing works
Rozin, P., Lowery, L., Imada, S., & Haidt, J. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.4.574 · Cited by 1,566 · see citing works
Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks
Brady, W. J., Wills, J. A., Jost, J. T., Tucker, J. A., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1618923114 · Cited by 1,396 · see citing works
Evidence for Altruism: Toward a Pluralism of Prosocial Motives
Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. L. (1991) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0202_1 · Cited by 1,274 · see citing works
Haidt, J. (2003) · Cited by 1,103 · see citing works
When small effects are impressive
Prentice, D. A., & Miller, D. T. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.160 · Cited by 1,008 · see citing works
Mind Perception Is the Essence of Morality
Gray, K., Young, L., & Waytz, A. (2012) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2012.651387 · Cited by 1,008 · see citing works
Moral outrage in the digital age
Crockett, M. J. (2017) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0213-3 · Cited by 618 · cited 3× · see citing works
“The exponential nature of online moral outrage may significantly alter how outrage is elicited, expressed, and perceived (Crockett, 2017), raising the need for more research to clarify the social costs and ramifications of this novel phenomenon.”
BackgroundWayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance
Demos, J. P., & Erikson, K. T. (1968) · The New England Quarterly · doi:10.2307/363377 · Cited by 528 · see citing works
Standing up for a change: Reducing bias through interpersonal confrontation.
Czopp, A. M., Monteith, M. J., & Mark, A. Y. (2006) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.784 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
So You've Been Publicly Shamed
Moskowitz, C. (2015) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0415-76c · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Reputational benefits for altruistic punishment
Barclay, P. (2006) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2006.01.003 · Cited by 356 · see citing works
The rejection of moral rebels: Resenting those who do the right thing.
Monin, B., Sawyer, P. J., & Marquez, M. J. (2008) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.76 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
Self-citationDiffering Conceptions of Moral Exemplarity: Just, Brave, and Caring.
Walker, L. J., & Hennig, K. H. (2004) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.4.629 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Alicke, M. D. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.3.368 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Life after P-HackingPreprint
Simmons, J. P., Nelson, L. D., & Simonsohn, U. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2205186 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
The Interactive Effect of Anger and Disgust on Moral Outrage and Judgments
Salerno, J. M., & Peter-Hagene, L. C. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613486988 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Tosi, J., & Warmke, B. (2016) · Philosophy & Public Affairs · doi:10.1111/papa.12075 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Raihani, N., & Bshary, R. (2015) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2014.12.003 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Rattan, A., & Dweck, C. S. (2010) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797610374740 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Fragale, A. R., Rosen, B., Xu, C. K., & Merideth, I. (2008) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2008.05.002 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance
Means, R. L., & Erikson, K. T. (1967) · Sociological Analysis · doi:10.2307/3710316 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
How power corrupts relationships: Cynical attributions for others' generous acts
Inesi, M. E., Gruenfeld, D. H., & Galinsky, A. D. (2012) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.01.008 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Moral signals, public outrage, and immaterial harms
Tannenbaum, D., Uhlmann, E. L., & Diermeier, D. A. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.010 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Negativity bias in attribution of external agency.
Morewedge, C. K. (2009) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/a0016796 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Grubbs, J. B., Warmke, B., Tosi, J., James, A. S., & Campbell, W. K. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0223749 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Hechler, S., & Kessler, T. (2018) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03.005 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Small Effects: The Indispensable Foundation for a Cumulative Psychological Science
Götz, F. M., Gosling, S. D., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2021) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620984483 · Cited by 553 · see citing works
Brady, W. J., Crockett, M. J., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2020) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691620917336 · Cited by 417 · see citing works
Kalla, J., & Broockman, D. (2020) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055419000923 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
The Volatility of Collective Action: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Data
Louis, W. R., Thomas, E. F., McGarty, C., Lizzio‐Wilson, M., Amiot, C. E., & Moghaddam, F. M. (2020) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12671 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Van Bavel, J. J., Robertson, C. E., del Rosario, K., Rasmussen, J., & Rathje, S. (2024) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-022123-110258 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Grice, J. W., Medellin, E., Jones, I. T., Horvath, S., McDaniel, H., O'Lansen, C., & Baker, M. (2020) · Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/2515245920922982 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Grubbs, J. B., Warmke, B., Tosi, J., James, A. S., & Campbell, W. K. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0223749 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Spring, V. L., Cameron, C. D., & Cikara, M. (2018) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2018.09.006 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Moralization and Mismoralization in Public Health
Kraaijeveld, S. R., & Jamrozik, E. (2022) · Medicine Health Care and Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s11019-022-10103-1 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
‘That's not funny!’ Standing up against disparaging humor
Thomas, E. F., McGarty, C., Spears, R., Livingstone, A., Platow, M. J., Lala, G., & Mavor, K. I. (2019) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103901 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Introducing digital vigilantism
Favarel‐Garrigues, G., Tanner, S., & Trottier, D. (2020) · Global Crime · doi:10.1080/17440572.2020.1750789 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Norm Psychology in the Digital Age: How Social Media Shapes the Cultural Evolution of Normativity
Brady, W. J., & Crockett, M. J. (2024) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916231187395 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Woods, F. A., & Ruscher, J. B. (2020) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12405 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Morality in the anthropocene: The perversion of compassion and punishment in the online world
Robertson, C. E., Shariff, A., & Bavel, J. J. V. (2024) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae193 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Measurement Invariance Testing Works
Lasker, J. (2024) · Applied Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/01466216241261708 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Firm Responses to Mass Outrage: Technology, Blame, and Employment
Bhargava, V. R. (2018) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-018-4043-7 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Analysis of Moral Judgment on Reddit
Botzer, N., Gu, S., & Weninger, T. (2023) · IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems · doi:10.1109/tcss.2022.3160677 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Fat acceptance 101: Midwestern American women’s perspective on cultural body acceptance
Bombak, A. E., Meadows, A., & Billette, J. (2019) · Health Sociology Review · doi:10.1080/14461242.2019.1604150 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Kermani, M. S., Noseworthy, T. J., & Darke, P. R. (2023) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcpy.1364 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Nonmaleficence in Shaming: The Ethical Dilemma Underlying Participation in Online Public Shaming
Pundak, C., Steinhart, Y., & Goldenberg, J. (2021) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcpy.1227 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Optimising Emotions, Incubating Falsehoods
Bakir, V., & McStay, A. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-13551-4 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Barron, A. C., Woodyatt, L., Thomas, E. F., Loh, J. E. K., & Dunning, K. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2023.100317 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Saul, J. M. (2021) · Postdigital science and education · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-72154-1_8 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Camps, J., Graso, M., & Brebels, L. (2019) · Academy of Management Perspectives · doi:10.5465/amp.2018.0003 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Chu, X., Zhao, Y., Gao, L., & Wang, Y. (2023) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2023.2171170 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Meaningful outrage: Anger at injustice bolsters meaning for justice sensitive individuals
Rothschild, Z. K., & Keefer, L. A. (2021) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.2820 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
What We (Do Not) Know About Punishment Across Organizational Boundaries
Frey, E., Adams, G. S., Pfeffer, J., & Belmi, P. R. V. (2022) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/01492063221106420 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Outraged but Sympathetic: Ambivalent Emotions Limit the Influence of Viral Outrage
Sawaoka, T., & Monin, B. (2019) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550619853595 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationJiménez‐Leal, W., & Cortissoz-Mora, C. (2024) · Theory & Psychology · doi:10.1177/09593543241305147 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Vetting of Election Candidates by Political Parties: Centralization of Candidate Selection in Canada
Marland, A. (2021) · The American Review of Canadian Studies · doi:10.1080/02722011.2021.1986558 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Signaling outrage is a signal about the sender: moral perceptions of online flaming
Monge, C. K., & Laurent, S. M. (2024) · Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmae001 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Qualitative analyses on the classification model of bystander behavior in cyberbullying
Rong, K., Chu, X., & Zhao, Y. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152331 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Analysis of Moral Judgement on RedditPreprint
Botzer, N., Gu, S., & Weninger, T. (2021) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2101.07664 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Jordan, J., & Kteily, N. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/97nhj · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Finding public outrage on social media during the Texas energy crisis
Ramos, A., & Meeus, L. (2024) · Energy Research & Social Science · doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.103409 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Women’s Empowerment Campaigns: Helpful or Harmful to the Workplace?
Bergen, C. W. V., & Bressler, M. S. (2019) · Journal of Organizational Psychology · doi:10.33423/jop.v19i4.2290 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Bennett, A. R., & Grigoropoulou, N. (2024) · Journal of Marketing Management · doi:10.1080/0267257x.2024.2312197 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Becoming oneself online: Social media platforms as environments for self-transformation
Marin, L. (2025) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-025-04495-7 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A Tale of Two Tweets: What Factors Predict Forgiveness of Past Transgressions on Social Media?
Dawson, A., Williams, S. L., & Wilson, A. E. (2023) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672231214629 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Постполитика в сетях постправды
Костырев, А. (2021) · Полис Политические исследования · doi:10.17976/jpps/2021.02.05 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
What is Moral about Moral Outrage?Preprint
Jiménez‐Leal, W., & Cortissoz-Mora, C. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3911353 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Moral Panics on Social Media are Fueled by Signals of ViralityPreprint
Puryear, C., Vandello, J. A., & Gray, K. J. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/t9dre · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Feeling-Into the Civic Body: Affect, Emotions and Moods
Bakir, V., & McStay, A. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-13551-4_5 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Beyond Moral Outrage: The Role of the Ingroup in Online Condemnations
Rotman, J., Weber, V., Perkins, A. W., & Reed, A. (2025) · Psychology and Marketing · doi:10.1002/mar.70040 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
A Tale of Two Tweets: What Factors Predict Forgiveness of Past Transgressions on Social Media?Preprint
Dawson, A., & Wilson, A. E. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/b6vtn
Tierney, H. (2023) · Philosophers Imprint · doi:10.3998/phimp.3761
Ward, S. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17125-3_342-1
Ward, S. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-48129-1_342
Moral Dimensions of Political Attitudes and Behavior
Guan, K., Heltzel, G., & Laurin, K. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.028
Malle, B., & Robbins, P. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108894357.026
Partisans’ Noncomplex Impressions of a Candidate Who Wore a Racially Insensitive Costume
Ruscher, J. B. (2025) · Journal of Language and Social Psychology · doi:10.1177/0261927x251334648
Guo, J., Xu, F., Dong, R., Jin, S., Niu, G., & Zhou, Z. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5887588
Outrage as Language of Social Media Discourse: Analysing Prevalence and Effects
Hans, N., & Rai, S. (2022) · International Journal of Communication Development · doi:10.65301/ijcd.2022.12.3.4.5
The Awe-Inspired Bystander: Awe Motivates Online Moral Courage via Authentic-Self PursuitPreprint
Wang, Y., & Jiang, T. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6514840
- Authors
- Sawaoka, T., & Monin, B.
- Affiliations
- Department of Psychology
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sawaoka, Takuya
- ORCID
- Monin, Benoît
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-08-09
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1665-1678
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2885446106
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 3.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (DGE-114747)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- moral outrage, online comments, impression formation, sympathy, prejudice
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anger, Emotions, Female, Humans, Judgment, Male, Middle Aged, Morals, Punishment, Social Justice, Young Adult, Criminals
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
