September 20, 2024
2 min read
Moral Judgments May Shift with the Seasons
Certain values carry more weight in spring and autumn than in summer and winter
As leaves fall, snow sweeps in or flowers blossom, humans change in measurable ways, too. Research suggests a range of psychological phenomena—such as our emotional state, diet and exercise habits, sexual activity and even color preferences—fluctuate throughout the year. And now a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA demonstrates how moral values can also shift.
For the study, researchers analyzed more than 230,000 online survey responses—a decade’s worth—from people in the U.S., along with smaller groups in Canada and Australia. The questions were based on a standardized framework social scientists use to assess people’s judgments of right and wrong. This framework, called moral foundations theory, sets up a taxonomy of “five pretty fundamental values that shape human social behavior,” says lead author Ian Hohm, a psychology graduate student at the University of British Columbia.
The framework considers loyalty (devotion to one’s own group), authority (respect for leaders and rules), and purity (cleanliness and piety) to be “binding” values that promote group cohesion and conformity. These principles, often associated with political conservatism, consistently received weaker endorsements in summer and winter. And in summer, the more extreme the seasonal weather differences, the more pronounced the effect. (An additional surveyed group in the U.K. showed only the changes in summer.)
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Care (preventing harm to others) and fairness (equal treatment) are…
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