Investigating the role of group-based morality in extreme behavioral expressions of prejudice

Understanding motivations underlying acts of hatred are essential for developing strategies to prevent such extreme behavioral expressions of prejudice (EBEPs) against marginalized groups. This work investigates the motivations underlying EBEPs as a function of moral values, proposing that EBEPs are morally motivated behaviors grounded in people’s moral values and perceptions of moral violations. Five studies integrating spatial modeling and experimental methods investigate the relationship between moral values and EBEPs. Results suggest that moral values oriented around group preservation predict county-level hate group prevalence and are associated with the belief that EBEPs are justified. The association between group-based moral values and EBEPs against outgroups is partly explained by the belief that these groups have committed moral wrongs.

Joe Hoover, Mohammad Atari, Aida Mostafazadeh Davani, Brendan Kennedy, Gwenyth Portillo-Wightman, Leigh Yeh, Morteza Dehghani