UC Irvine

Perceived moral similarity or dissimilarity has profound effects on interpersonal judgment and relationships. People are apt to avoid or withdraw from relationships with those who hold divergent moral beliefs or transgress moral rules. This tendency to distance oneself from perceived moral deviants exists, in part, because morality is the primary dimension on which people evaluate others when forming impressions of them. Moreover, when people perceive a situation to involve morality, they are especially prone to attributing differences in beliefs and perceived transgressions to dispositional traits and defects of character. • People's global judgments about the extent to which others have good or bad moral character are a core aspect of person perception. • People draw inferences about others' character traits based on the moral judgments others make, and these inferences affect relationships and interpersonal behavior. • Perceptions of morality also shape the way individuals interact with one another. • Violations of morality prompt person- focused attributions that may be difficult to overcome.