The development of morality

Evidence that individuals distinguish between moral and conventional rules is reviewed. Moral \nrules prohibit actions that result in victims (e.g., violence, stealing, etc.). Conventional rules \nprohibit actions that do not result in victims (e.g., not saying please, dressing in opposite sex \nclothes). Previous theoretical accounts of the development of the moral/conventional distinction \nare discussed. These theories are contrasted with an approach that is developed here. It is \nproposed that there is a mechanism, a Violence Inhibition Mechanism (VIM), that is responsible \nfor the previously observed aversive arousal response to the distress of others. It is proposed \nthat this aversive arousal response is a prerequisite for the development of the moral/ \nconventional distinction, the moral emotions and the inhibition of violent behaviour. \nPrevious accounts have stressed role taking as a prerequisite for the moral/ conventional \ndistinction. However, this was found not to be the case. Autistics, already known to be lacking \na 'Theory of Mind' and therefore unable to role take, were found to make the moral/ \nconventional distinction. \nIt was hypothesized that Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) might be a consequence of a lack \nof VIM; the clinical description of APD stresses their lack of the moral emotions and their \ninability to inhibit their violent actions. In line with this, APD subjects were not found to make \na moral/conventional distinction. Two rival explanations of APD were investigated: that APD \nis due to an inability to role take and; that APD is due to frontal lobe damage. APD subjects \nwere not found to be impaired in either of these respects in comparison to criminal controls. \nA final investigation focused on the emotion attributions of APD subjects. It was hypothesized, \ngiven the contention that VIM is a prerequisite for the development of the moral emotions, that \nAPD subjects might make anomalous attributions in victim situations though their attributions \nof other situations should prove normal. This study observed that while the attributions of APD \nsubjects and criminal controls did not differ if the emotions attributed were happiness, sadness \nor embarrassment there was significant difference in victim situations where APD subjects were \nless likely to attribute guilt and more likely to attribute indifference than criminal controls. This \nfinding was taken as indirect support of the VIM position. \nAdditional tests, and implications of the VIM model are then discussed.