The Immoral Landscape? Scientists Are Associated with Violations of Morality.

ABSTRACT: Do people think that scientists are bad people? Although surveys find that science is a highly respected profession, a growing discourse has emerged regarding how science is often judged negatively. We report ten studies (N = 2328) that investigated morality judgments of scientists and compared those with judgments of various control groups, including atheists. A persistent intuitive association between scientists and disturbing immoral conduct emerged for violations of the binding moral foundations, particularly when this pertained to violations of purity. However, there was no association in the context of the individualizing moral foundations related to fairness and care. Other evidence found that scientists were perceived as similar to others in their concerns with the individualizing

SUBMITTER: Rutjens BT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4821584 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature