Twentieth century morality: The rise and fall of moral concepts from 1900 to 2007

PloS One
Melissa A WheelerNick Haslam

Abstract

Trends in the cultural salience of morality across the 20th century in the Anglophone world, as reflected in changing use of moral language, were explored using the Google Books (English language) database. Relative frequencies of 304 moral terms, organized into six validated sets corresponding to general morality and the five moral domains proposed by moral foundations theory, were charted for the years 1900 to 2007. Each moral language set displayed unique, often nonlinear historical trajectories. Words conveying general morality (e.g., good, bad, moral, evil), and those representing Purity-based morality, implicating sanctity and contagion, declined steeply in frequency from 1900 to around 1980, when they rebounded sharply. Ingroup-based morality, emphasizing group loyalty, rose steadily over the 20th century. Harm-based morality, focused on suffering and care, rose sharply after 1980. Authority-based morality, which emphasizes respect for hierarchy and tradition, rose to a peak around the social convulsions of the late 1960s. There were no consistent tendencies for moral language to become more individualist or less grounded in concern for social order and cohesion. These differing time series suggest that the changing mora...Continue Reading

References

Apr 1, 1997·Journal of Medical Ethics·T Sorell
May 19, 2007·Science·Jonathan Haidt
Apr 22, 2009·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Jesse GrahamBrian A Nosek
Dec 18, 2010·Science·Jean-Baptiste MichelErez Lieberman Aiden
Jan 20, 2011·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·Jesse GrahamPeter H Ditto
Jul 19, 2012·PloS One·Jean M TwengeBrittany Gentile
Mar 19, 2013·Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc·Ronnie Janoff-Bulman, Nate C Carnes
Apr 20, 2013·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Shigehiro OishiIolanda Costa Galinha
Aug 9, 2013·Psychological Science·Patricia M Greenfield
Jan 15, 2014·PloS One·R Alexander BentleyVasileios Lampos
Jan 23, 2015·International Journal of Psychology : Journal International De Psychologie·Rong Zeng, Patricia M Greenfield
Feb 5, 2015·Psychological Reports·Susan E MasonCelestine M Mcgill
Oct 22, 2016·The Journal of Social Psychology·Ain SimpsonAlan Page Fiske
Mar 6, 2016·Behavior Research Methods·Morteza DehghaniNiki Jitendra Parmar
Jul 14, 2017·Psychological Science·Henri C SantosIgor Grossmann

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 19, 2020·Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin·Nicholas ButtrickShigehiro Oishi
Jul 19, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Nick Haslam, Lotus Ye
Oct 13, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Tse-Min WangFlorian Heine

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

Google Books
Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program ( LIWC )
NGram
Google NGram
Google NGram Viewer
NGram Viewer

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.

© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved