Friday, 09 August 2024
A new study has revealed regular seasonal shifts in people’s moral values. The findings have potential implications for politics, law and health—including the timing of elections and court cases, as well as public response to a health crisis.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham and University of British Columbia analysed survey responses from more than 230,000 people in the U.S. over 10 years and revealed that people’s embrace of certain moral values fluctuates depending on the time of year. The research published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS
"People's endorsement of moral values that promote group cohesion and conformity is stronger in the spring and fall than it is in the summer and winter," said Ian Hohm, the study’s first author and a doctoral student in UBC’s psychology department. "Moral values are a fundamental part of how people make decisions and form judgments, so we think this finding might just be the tip of the iceberg in that it has implications for all sorts of other downstream effects."
The study observed a potential link between these seasonal moral shifts and levels of anxiety, using large-scale data on seasonal anxiety provided by Project Implicit Health PIH. "We noticed that anxiety levels peak in the spring and autumn, which coincides with the periods when people endorse binding values more strongly," said Dr. Mark Schaller, the study’s senior author and a professor of psychology at UBC. “This correlation suggests that higher anxiety may drive people to seek comfort in the group norms and traditions upheld by binding values.”
The PIH website allows anyone to learn about their automatic biases across various health domains (e.g., depression, alcohol use and exercise.
The summer timing of the recent UK general election could have partially accounted for the poor performance seen by the Tories, while our data would suggest that a November US election may benefit the Republican party.
Since 2009, a website established by social psychology researchers has been collecting survey data that measures participants’ endorsement of five moral values:
- Loyalty: Valuing devotion to one's group and maintaining strong group bonds.
- Authority: Respecting and following leadership and established rules.
- Purity: Emphasizing cleanliness, sanctity and upholding tradition.
- Care: Prioritizing kindness and preventing harm to others.
- Fairness: Ensuring equal treatment for everyone.
Loyalty, authority and purity are referred to by researchers as “binding” values because they encourage conformity to group norms. They also align closely with modern political conservatism. Care and fairness may be considered more liberal values, with their focus on individual rights and welfare. All have been shown by research to guide people’s judgments about right and wrong.
The researchers found that respondents endorsed the “binding” values more strongly in spring and fall, but not as much in summer and winter—a pattern that was remarkably consistent over 10 years. This seasonal biannual pattern identified also emerged in smaller data samples from Canada and Australia, with the United Kingdom instead showing an annual pattern where binding conservative moral values were lowest in the summer months.
They also found evidence that the summer decrease in endorsement of binding moral values was more pronounced in areas with more extreme seasonal climate differences.
Implications for politics, law, health, social relations
The findings have wide-reaching implications, with potential examples including:
- Elections: The timing of elections could have an impact on outcomes, as shifts in moral values influence political opinions and behaviours.
- Legal judgments: The timing of trials and legal decisions could be influenced by seasonal variations in moral values, because those who endorse "binding" values tend to be more punitive of those who commit crimes and violate social norms.
- Disease response: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which people followed social distancing guidelines and were vaccinated was influenced by their moral values. Knowing these values change with the seasons could help tailor more effective health campaigns.
- Intergroup prejudice: Seasonal changes in moral values might affect how people view outsiders or those who don't conform to group norms.
The research team plans to delve deeper into the connections between anxiety and moral values and to investigate how these seasonal patterns influence prejudices and legal judgments.
Story credits
More information is available from Dr Brian O’Shea on brian.oshea@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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