What does my group consider moral?: How social influence shapes moral behavior

Although moral attitudes are often characterized as stable and rooted in “moral truth,” whether people act on them depends heavily on situational factors. We present a framework for understanding how attitudes, social norms, and perceived control collectively shape moral behavior. People adapt their behavior as they move across social contexts, following norms that either encourage moral behaviors (e.g., expressions of outrage on social media) or restrain them (e.g., professional settings). We explain why people are influenced by norms, focusing on two goals – affiliation (desire to affiliate with one’s group) and accuracy (desire to be morally right in ambiguous situations) – and how these goals become uniquely intertwined in moral behavior. This framework can help explain why people overestimate their willingness to speak out on a moral issue, when people opt out of collective action, and why they engage in moral hypocrisy.