Effects of gender and personality on everyday moral decision-making after acute stress exposure
Effects of gender and personality on everyday moral decision-making after acute stress exposure
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DOI：
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.105084
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发表时间：
2021-02-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Kudielka, Brigitte M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Singer, Nina;Sommer, Monika;Kudielka, Brigitte M.
尽管人们对潜在的性别差异或性格影响知之甚少，但研究表明，暴露于严重的社会心理压力会影响道德决策。在两项受试者内设计研究中，179名健康男性和女性（研究1中N = 99，研究2中N = 80）在两个测试日随机接受特里尔社会压力测试（TSST）和非压力控制条件（休息期）。在压力/休息后，通过日常道德冲突情境（EMCS）量表（Singer等人，2019）评估道德决策，该量表要求在目标人的不同亲密度下，对日常道德冲突情境做出利他与利己的反应。我们研究了急性压力、社会亲密度、参与者的性别以及先天选择的人格特质宜人性、共情性和社会可取性对日常道德决策的影响。尽管有很高的统计能力，但我们无法证实两个样本中急性压力和社会亲密度对EMCS评分的假设影响。然而，我们的数据揭示了急性压力对日常道德决策的亲社会影响，而不是对男性的影响，以及对宜人性和社会可取性的影响。研究1中唾液α淀粉酶（sAA）水平和研究2中女性皮质醇水平与急性应激暴露后较高的EMCS评分显著相关。此外，较低的预期主观应激反应与更多的利他决策相关。此外，我们发现假设的道德决策与真实的亲社会行为（慈善捐赠的机会）之间存在正相关关系。总之，由于方法上的差异，与之前的受试者间设计研究相比，基于当前的受试者内结果，可能无法排除急性压力对日常道德决策的影响。然而，目前的数据表明，与短期暴露在急性压力下相比，亲和性等特定的人格特质可能对日常道德决策有更大的影响。
Exposure to acute psychosocial stress has been shown to affect moral decision-making, though little is known about potential gender differences or effects of personality. In two within-subjects design studies, 179 healthy men and women (N = 99 in Study 1, N = 80 in Study 2) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a non-stress control condition (resting period) on two testing days in random order. After stress/resting, moral decision-making was assessed by the Everyday Moral Conflict Situations (EMCS) Scale (Singer et al., 2019), which requests altruistic versus egoistic responses to everyday moral conflict scenarios with varying closeness of target persons. We investigated effects of acute stress, social closeness, participants' gender, and the a priori selected personality traits agreeableness, empathy, and social desirability on everyday moral decision-making. Despite high statistical power, we could neither confirm the hypothesized effects of acute stress nor social closeness on EMCS scores in both samples. However, our data revealed a prosocial impact of acute stress on everyday moral decisions rather in females than males as well as effects of agreeableness and social desirability. Salivary alpha amylase (sAA) levels in Study 1 and cortisol levels in females in Study 2 were significantly correlated with higher EMCS scores after acute stress exposure. Additionally, lower anticipatory subjective stress responses were associated with more altruistic decisions. Moreover, we found positive relationships between hypothetical moral decision-making and real prosocial behavior (opportunity for a charitable donation). In sum, due to methodological differences compared to previous between-subjects design studies, it might not be justified to rule out effects of acute stress on everyday moral decision-making based on the current within-subjects results. Nevertheless, the present data suggest that specific personality traits like agreeableness might have a stronger impact on everyday moral decision-making than short term-exposure to acute stress.