UC Irvine

Moral responsibility concerns the extent to which a person believes that another individual or group is blameworthy and ought to be accountable for violating standards of conduct by either behaving in an unacceptable manner or failing to behave in an acceptable manner. The perspective presented in the current entry is rooted in theories of morality that identify the general scope of moral concerns and also acknowledges that there exists considerable variability in whether or how a given individual ascribes moral relevance to a particular action or situation (e.g., Graham et al. 2013; Skitka et al. 2005). The description of moral responsibility included below also draws from social psychological theories of responsibility and blame. These theories identify when people are more versus less likely to judge others as culpable for their actions or omissions (e.g., Malle et al. 2014; Weiner 1986). The….