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A Meta-Analysis of the Moral Embodied Cognition
SUN Yanjie,SUN Fangfang
2014, 32 (2):
88-96.
Embodied cognition emphasizes our body playing important roles in human cognitive process. It also exert substantial influences in the field of Moral Psychology. Early researchers believe that moral judgment and moral behavior is based on an individual's rational reasoning. Subsequently, recent empirical works suggest one's unconscious process (physical, perception and culture) also effects moral judgments and moral behaviors. Researchers have termed the form of physical variables altering an individual's moral behavior and moral judgment as "Moral Psychophysics". However, research exploring whether corporeal perception will affect people's moral judgments and moral behaviors have yielded inconsistent results. There are many variables we don’t know whether they can affect the effect size of the moral embodiment, which will be further explored in this study. This article reports the results of a meta-analysis of individual perception's relationship with one's moral behavior and moral judgment, and whether this affiliation is moderated by any subsidiary variables. The moderator analysis variables include different directions (concrete-to-abstract or abstract-to-concrete), cognitive activities (online or offline), senses (sight, touch, taste or smell), cultures (Western or Eastern), country cultures (China, America, Germany, Spain and England) and moral metaphors (bright or clean). A total of 42 studies with 2962 participants were included in this meta-analysis, the articles were written in both English and Chinese. Data was analyzed utilizing the Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA) Version 2 program. For each study, an effect size (correlation) was calculated. Significance tests and moderator analyses were performed through random-effect models. The effect sizes of moral judgment and moral behavior were homogeneous (Q = 0.939, p > 0.05), moral judgment and moral behavior were then combined as moral response. The combined effect size for the relation between individual perceptions, moral judgment and moral behavior was weakly correlated (r=0.19, p < 0.01). Variables such as the directions, cognitive activities, perceptions, moral metaphors and Western or Eastern cultures did not show significant moderation effects. However, if the cultures are not merely classified by Western or Eastern and is rater specifically categorized as “country culture”, a moderation effect was found (Q = 79.454, p < 0.001). The results suggest that our perceptions can affect moral judgment and behavior vice versa, and relationship between the perceptions and moral response is affected by the country culture. The way humans behavior and comport their bodies is one way they carry their culture. The discovered moderate effect in country culture suggest that we should focus on different cultural aspects in future Embodied Cognition studies.
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中国人文社会科学核心期刊