Abstract
An attribution-based theory of moral evaluations was investigated by systematically varying the distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus of actions that conflicted with or conformed to one of four moral norms (telling the truth, doing one’s duty, not stealing, and keeping promises). Analyses of subjects’ moral judgments indicated that (1) moral character is assumed to be a prime cause of behaviors that are low in distinctiveness and high in consistency, (2) actions that are high in distinctiveness and low in consistency are less likely to be attributed to the actor’s moral character, and (3) consensus information has a lesser impact on moral judgments.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Eisen, S. V. Actor-observer differences in information inference and causal attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1979, 37, 262–272.
Kelley, H. H. Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (Vol. 15). Loncoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1967.
Kelley, H. H. Moral evaluation. American Psychologist, 1971, 26, 293–300.
Mcarthur, L. A. The how and what of why: Some determinants and consequences of causal attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972, 22, 171–193.
Ross, M., & DiTecco, D. An attributional analysis of moral judgments. Journal of Social Issues, 1975, 31, 91–109.
Ruble, D. N., & Feldman, N. S. Order of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information and causal attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 930–937.
Tedeschi, J. T., Smith, R. B., & Brown, R. C, Jr. A reinterpretation of research on aggression. Psychological Bulletin, 1974, 81, 540–563.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Forsyth, D.R., Pope, W.R. The attribution cube and moral evaluations. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 21, 117–118 (1983). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329970
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329970