This summer I am working on a research project testing a social psychological theory’s ability to predict human moral judgment on moral transgressions. Understanding how humans make moral judgments and decisions in everyday life is important to understanding key social issues. My project uses stories adapted from a subreddit called “Am I the Asshole”, to measure what makes an issue morally wrong using Affect Control Theory. Affect Control Theory (ACT) assumes that people react to things or events by assigning them affective (or emotional) meaning. ACT data is collected by asking people within a culture to define the quantitative scores that represent the meaning of a word, along three dimensions: Evaluation (goodness versus badness), Potency (powerfulness versus weakness), and Activity (liveliness versus torpidity).

Respondents surveyed within a culture were presented with a word, like “mother”, and asked to rate it on a scale of -4.3 to +4.3 along the three dimensions. Averages across respondents were then calculated to produce the “typical” semantic meaning of identities and behaviors within a given culture. We find that in the United States, a typical mother is viewed as very good, powerful, and fairly active. Using these sentiment scores, ACT equations calculate cultural impressions of an action (mother hugs child) and the emotional reaction of a member of that culture viewing that action. My project will compare the cultural impression generated by a moral transgression (“girlfriend cheats on boyfriend”) by the Affect Control Theory equations with the moral reaction of human participants within the United States culture. If ACT works in predicting moral judgment of participants, it will be able to be used as a tool for the analysis of moral judgments more broadly.

Over the course of the fellowship, I hope to strengthen my skills in online survey administration, data visualization, and research communication to diverse groups. I am excited about the opportunity to work with and learn from a diverse group of graduate students with many different perspectives. My goals for my project are straightforward and I have a clear deadline for accomplishing these goals. So far, I have appreciated the attention to detail with the timeline as I prepare to meet a presentation deadline in August. I am looking forward to applying other skills learned in class and through my relationship with my Studio point of contact.