Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-nf276 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-19T07:43:12.962Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The sense of moral obligation facilitates information agency and culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2020

Heather M. Maranges Open the ORCID record for Heather M. Maranges [Opens in a new window] ,
Roy F. Baumeister  and
Kathleen D. Vohs
Heather M. Maranges
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL32306; School of Psychology. maranges@psy.fsu.eduwww.heathermaranges.com Concordia University, Montreal, QCH4B 1R6, Canada
Roy F. Baumeister
Affiliation:
University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 407, Australia. r.baumeister@psy.uq.edu.auhttp://www.roybaumeister.com
Kathleen D. Vohs
Affiliation:
Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN55455. vohsx005@umn.eduhttps://carlsonschool.umn.edu/faculty/kathleen-vohs
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Tomasello argues that humans’ sense of moral obligation emerges early in development, relies on a shared “we,” and serves as the foundation of cooperation. This perspective complements our theoretical view of the human self as information agent. The shared “we” promotes not only proximal cooperative goals but also distal ones via the construction of shared understanding – it promotes culture.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e78
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Baumeister, R. F. (2005) The cultural animal: Human nature, meaning, and social life. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F.Ainsworth, S. E. & Vohs, K. D. (2016) Are groups more or less than the sum of their members? The moderating role of individual identification. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 39:e137. doi:10.1017/S0140525X15000618.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baumeister, R. F., Maranges, H. M. & Vohs, K. D. (2018) Human self as information agent: Functioning in a social environment based on shared meanings. Review of General Psychology 22(1):36–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a theory of practice, vol. 16. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Csibra, G. & Gergely, G. (2009) Natural pedagogy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13(4):148–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Waal, F. (2008) The ape and the sushi master: Cultural reflections of a primatologist. Basic Books.Google Scholar
DiFonzo, N. & Bordia, P. (2007) Rumor, gossip and urban legends. Diogenes 54(1):19–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunning, D., Anderson, J. E., Schlösser, T., Ehlebracht, D. & Fetchenhauer, D. (2014) Trust at zero acquaintance: More a matter of respect than expectation of reward. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 107(1):122–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinberg, M., Willer, R., Stellar, J. & Keltner, D. (2012) The virtues of gossip: Reputational information sharing as prosocial behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology 102(5):1015–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maranges, H. M. & Ainsworth, S. E. (2020) Moralization of obesity: Social error management concerns about self-control and cooperation. Unpublished manuscript. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.Google Scholar
Tamir, D. I. & Mitchell, J. P. (2012) Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109:8038–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed