Effect of physical cleanliness and cognitive cleanliness on moral judgment

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aimed at examining the individual effect of physical cleanliness and cognitive cleanliness on the severity of moral judgment under the condition of previously induced experimental feelings of disgust. Method: Seventy-five participants were shown 12 disgusting pictures. They were then randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: Condition 1: hand-washing with cognitive cleanliness priming; Condition 2: non-hand-washing with cognitive cleanliness priming; Condition 3: non-hand-washing without cognitive cleanliness priming. Participants were asked to rate six moral dilemmas and the emotion rating for the 12 pictures was collected. Demographic information was obtained and all participants were debriefed before they left. Results: With the experimentally induced feeling of disgust, the mixed effect of physical cleanliness and cognitive cleanliness significantly reduced the severity of moral judgment. When the individual effects were addressed, however, only cognitive cleanliness and not physical cleanliness significantly reduced the severity of moral judgment. Conclusions: Cognitive cleanliness alone reduced the severity of moral judgment by removing the feeling of disgust. Physical cleanliness reduced the severity of moral judgment only when it was considered together with cognitive cleanliness.