05/17/2022
By Karen Mullins
The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Defense by Lisa M. Thompson entitled, "Exploring Offending and Decision-making Through the Lens of Moral Foundations Theory."
Tuesday, May 31
10 – 11:30 a.m.
Via Zoom
Committee:
- Neil Shortland
- Jason Rydberg
- Andrew Harris
- Jason Silver, Rutgers University–Newark
Abstract:
This dissertation explores the impact of morality on the decision to offend, with specific focus on the role of moral foundations on the process that leads to offending behavior and how the decision-making process is impacted when a person is faced with competing morals. Although psychological perspectives have been applied to decisions characterized by high levels of risk and uncertainty experienced by emergency responders, these methods of examining “least-worst” decisions have yet to be applied to deviant decisions characterized by similar levels of risk and uncertainty. I first outline the creation of a deviant decision inventory, which is structured to present individuals with scenarios and to require responses in which a person chooses either a deviant or non-deviant outcome. Then, to understand the psychological processes that can result in deviance, this body of work presents a quantitative analysis of the effects of moral foundation domains on the process that leads to deviant outcomes. Through this analysis, I focus first on the role of moral values before delving deeper into the role of “sacred” morals and the trade-off that can occur when a person is faced with conflicting morals. Overall, I discover that endorsements of specific moral domains both inhibit and motivate deviant behavior. I also identify clear differences in the impact of moral trade-offs on the decision-making process and the decision to offend.