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Aurora

Abstract

People are tasked with making decisions that often come with consequences, whether it be for someone else or themselves. Due to this, there is an ambiguity in understanding what is “right” and “wrong” in a given scenario. However, limited research has examined how interpersonal relationships and intensity of the punishment may affect this decision-making process. This study examines the effect of interpersonal closeness and punishment intensity on moral decision-making, defined in terms of fairness and empathy. Participants (N = 54) from a midwestern university were randomly assigned to one of three interpersonal closeness conditions (close friend vs. close friend, close friend vs. stranger, or stranger vs. stranger) and evaluated six moral dilemmas involving varying punishment intensities (high intensity and low intensity). Fairness and empathy were rated on a 10-point scale to generate average morality scores for each person in the scenario. Results of this 3x2 mixed-subjects ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of punishment intensity on moral decision-making [F (1, 102) = 41.97, p < .001] and no significant differences across interpersonal closeness levels [F (2,102) = 1.31, p = .274]. There was not a significant interaction between punishment intensity and interpersonal closeness [F (2,102) = 0.04, p = .966]. These findings suggest that punishment intensity plays a more crucial role in shaping moral decision-making than interpersonal closeness. These results have implications for education, workplace conduct, and social development, highlighting the need for further research into the interaction between interpersonal closeness and moral reasoning in diverse populations.

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