Beyond Aesthetic Judgment: Beauty Elevates Moral Status through Perception of Purity

First published June 24, 2021 Search in PubMed for research articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211023648

Commentary

Although there is a tendency to focus on "mental perception" as essential to judging moral standing, the small body of evidence suggests that beauty may also be an important factor. (For some people and animals)

Across six studies (N= 1,662), we investigated whether beauty increases the attribution of moral status to a wide range of targets, including non-sensitive entities, and we examined the psychological mechanisms by which beauty assigns moral status to targets. The researchers found that people attribute greater moral status to beautiful (and ugly) animals and humans.

This effect extended to non-sentient targets as well.

From these, people perceive beautiful landscapes and buildings as having a higher moral status. What was shown throughout all the studies is that the perception of purity mediates the effect of beauty on moral status, suggesting that beauty enhances the moral status individuals place on targets by evoking moral intuitions of purity.