Educational Psychology / In the field of moral psychology, cognitive functioning has long been the main focus of studies. Many researchers have been interested in moral reasoning ability, its developmental paths, and the process of moral judgment or decision making. Relatively recently, some moral psychologists started questioning whether people who are not theorists, researchers, or educators in morality also put as much emphasis on the cognitive functions as the core of morality. According to the literature, laypeople found to include cognitive aspects as one component of morality, and they also emphasize moral characters and virtues as other elements. In addition, laypeople frequently consider characteristics of ‘a moral person’ when they are asked to think about morality. These findings have activated research on naturalistic conceptions of morality and moral exemplars. However, few studies have examined how laypeople from different cultures other than the United States and Canada conceptualize morality. The purpose of this study was to explore naturalistic conceptions of ‘a moral person’ and to develop a theoretical model of moral exemplars for Koreans based on the gathered conceptions. Twenty two Koreans participated in in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct interviews, analyze data, and achieve the research goals. Korean laypeople’s conceptions included behaviors, personality traits, and psychological functions of ‘a moral person’ for them. In those behaviors and personality traits, both interpersonal (e.g., helping others or caring) and intrapersonal (e.g., living with integrity or being principled) characteristics were found together. Koreans conceptualize a person as moral when he or she tends to behave morally as an outer revelation of inner morality, personality traits. Using psychological functions (e.g., perspective taking, being compassionate, or keeping social face) appeared to promote the emergence of a moral behavior or make the behavior extraordinary. Finally, Koreans found to think of a person as moral who does moral behaviors even in challenging situations, assuming that his or her moral personality traits are strongly associated with the behaviors. In addition, Koreans tend to more emphasize interpersonal (i.e., other-oriented or community-based) aspects of morality than intrapersonal (i.e., self-centered or individual-based) components. These findings were summarized that ‘a moral person’ for Koreans is a person who has ‘moral heart’ and lives ‘in harmony with others.’ / text

This research aimed to test the effectiveness of a new social-psychological intervention aimedat conflict resolution and intergroup reconciliation. It was set in a relevant post-conflictcontext exploring intergroup attitudes and relationships between Serbs and Albanians.Existing empirical evidence shows that intergroup conflict affects perceptions of groups ́morality which in turn, are important for peace-building efforts. Recent research has providedevidence demonstrating that learning about outgroup moral exemplars, a novel interventionaimed at challenging social beliefs about a relevant outgroup, can improve intergroupattitudes such as increased contact intentions, reconciliation beliefs and perceptions ofoutgroup morality. Nonetheless, it remains to be explored whether this intervention (learningabout outgroup moral exemplars) would be effective in contexts marked by prolongedintergroup animosities and what processes could explain the expected positive effects. Thisstudy (N=373) presents experimental data demonstrating that learning about outgroup moral(vs. neutral) exemplars induces moral elevation regarded as a positive emotion promotingmoral affiliate behaviour which in turn, is related to positive intergroup outcomes (such asprejudice reduction and approach behaviour). The present research confirms the effectivenessof the moral exemplar approach in regards to intergroup reconciliation processes. Moreover,in this paper we extend the current literature by demonstrating that moral elevation could be apsychological mechanism relevant for facilitation of positive intergroup outcomes in conflictsettings.

The manner in which socioeconomic forces direct environmentally unsustainable behaviour is largely unseen and unappreciated. North American cultural beliefs, norms and values reinforce the economic system and constitute significant barriers to large-scale societal ecological behaviour change. Overlooked in the degrowth literature, even by researchers who have examined the importance of socioeconomic barriers (materialism and consumption), is the role occupation plays in dictating the ecological footprint and forming our socioeconomic identities. We have gained some understanding of the motivation of those individuals who have chosen to pursue a low-carbon lifestyle, but are lacking information about those who go one step further and adopt a low-carbon livelihood. Fifteen individuals who successfully adopted low-carbon livelihoods were interviewed to examine socioeconomic barriers they may have experienced and learn how those challenges were met. To assume a low-carbon livelihood at present is likely to require forming a new social status identity, adopting new metrics for judging oneself, and creating a new social network supportive of that identity and its values. A four-quadrant framework was used to examine the systemic nature of emergent themes regarding socioeconomic barriers and how those were overcome. Themes that emerged revealed many similarities to individuals committed to a low-carbon lifestyle with some critical differences in terms of both inhibiting and enabling factors. A core finding was that motivational and personality characteristics of the low-carbon livelihood individuals mimic the attributes of moral exemplars that drive a deep sense of ethical obligation to create a pro- social occupation that can function in a low-carbon manner. Clear values, coupled with a strong sense of personal responsibility, overpowered the socioeconomic barriers participants encountered. Implications regarding interventions for fostering the adoption of low-carbon livelihoods and fortifying the Degrowth movement are examined. / Graduate