The Influence of Morality Subcultures on the Acceptance and Appeal of Violence

Journal of Communication, Vol. 62(1)136-157

By Ron Tamborini, Allison Eden, Nicholas David Bowman, Matthew Grizzard, and Kenneth A. Lachlan

Abstract: Two studies examined how disposition theory-based morality subcultures predict the acceptance and appeal of violence. Study 1 used groups formed by median splits of individual difference variables (religiosity, aggression, and sex) thought to be trait correlates of morality subcultures in three 2 × 2 × 2 designs varying trait, perpetrator disposition (positive, negative), and motive (justified, unjustified) to predict the acceptance of violence in story resolutions for a scenario. Study 2 extended this design using domain-specific dimensions of morality from moral foundations theory (MFT) to predict perceptions of violent content and its appeal. The results suggest that morality subcultures predict response to violent drama and that dimensions of morality based on MFT offer a framework for defining morality subcultures.

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