Breaking the law makes people seem less moral, even when the act is unchanged
Does making a behavior illegal actually make it immoral? According to new research, yes. Simply labeling an action as illegal makes people judge it as more morally wrong even if the law was broken accidentally.
Research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology reveals that labeling an action as illegal can lead people to view the same behavior as more morally reprehensible, and the individual performing it as less moral, regardless of whether they committed the act intentionally or unintentionally. This finding, detailed in the study "Between law and conscience: Act legality shapes moral evaluation," challenges the notion that legal status merely reflects society's moral values and suggests it also influences moral judgment.
Across four experiments involving a total of 1,053 participants, the study consistently found that the legal status of an action influenced moral evaluations, regardless of the government type or prevailing social norms. Legal prohibitions appeared to serve as a cue for moral judgment, with the effect being more pronounced when the legal status aligned with prevailing social norms.
The study notes that while individual differences in the importance of respecting authority moderated the effect, the legal aspect of an action appeared to independently impact how morally wrong a behavior and its perpetrator were perceived.
Written by urgent.news from PsyPost's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
