Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 304 4th ASEAN Conference on Psychology, Counselling, and Humanities (ACPCH 2018)

Moral Emotion of Adolescents in the Context of Decision- Making

MM Shinta Pratiwi Subandi University of Semarang University of Gadjah Mada [email protected]

MG. Adiyanti University of Gadjah Mada

Abstract: Adolescents need to have moral emotions as an effort to make moral decisions and anticipate the emergence of moral transgression. The moral emotions as those emotions that are linked to the interests or welfare either of society as a whole or at least of persons other than the judge or agent. Some people believe that making the morally right decision makes people feel good. However, not many studies in Indonesia have supported this statement. This study aims to find out the moral emotions that appear in the context of hypothetical moral dilemmas and the patterns of responses to hypothetical moral dilemmas. Methods: Participants were 852 adolescents living in Semarang, aged 11 to 16 years old. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey of hypothetical moral dilemmas with Malti’s and Buchmann’s instruments. Results. A descriptive analysis of the results showed that there were three forms of moral emotions: positive (i.e., happy, pride, calm, gratitude, sincere, sympathy, and not feeling guilty), negative (i.e., pity, shame, regret, guilty, anxious or worry, and emotional conflicts (there are positive and negative feelings), confuse, and bad feelings) and neutral (neither feeling good or bad). The patterns found in adolescents were 57.2% happy moralist, 26.5% unhappy moralist; 5.9% happy victimizer; 3.6% unhappy victimizer; 5.4% pattern can not be categorized based on moral decisions; and 1,4% can not be categorized based on existing patterns based on selfish decisions. Conclusion. Overall, this study demonstrates that moral emotions develop during adolescence. Moral emotions can function during daily moral decision-making processes

Keywords : Moral emotion, decision making, adolescent

Introduction as adolescents learn to address specific situations (Krettenauer, Campbell, & Hertz, 2013). Moral development is critically important, However, the problem of moral decadence especially in adolescence. This aspect acts as a remains largely discussed because of the rapid significant guide for adolescents in finding their increase of immoral behavior cases. Based on our identity, developing harmonious personal preliminary study on moral violations, we found relationships and avoiding role-conflicts that that 276 adolescents in Semarang experienced occur during the transition period (Desmita, cheating, bullying, risky dating, school breaking, 2005). Therefore, it is essential for adolescents to violating traffic rules, lying, smoking, denying have moral emotions to create moral decisions parents, fighting, watching porn and steal and anticipate the emergence of moral violations. (Pratiwi, 2017). However, few studies in Indonesia support this In the theory of moral development, moral statement. Our study aims to explore the moral emotion acts as one of the domains in motivating emotions that arise in the context of hypothetical moral behavior (Malti, Gummerum, Keller, & moral dilemmas and decision making. Buchmann, 2009; Tangney & Dearing, 2004). Adolescence is a significant time in There is a difference between knowing and understanding the relationship between various feeling that something is morally wrong.Emotion aspects of moral development. During that period, involves the structure of meaning and evaluative moral concept begins to integrate with moral attitudes from self-objectivity. Moral judgment emotion, enabling it to cultivate better. It also depends on the way our emotion relates to the increases throughout adolescence and early situation at hand (Haidt, 2001). Moral choice is adulthood, developing into more complex forms more emotionally-controlled than rationality- controlled.

Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. 66 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 304

Moral emotion is a product of people’s self- Method evaluation and self-awareness towards their action. It also describes the consequence that their This research used a survey method by action has on others (e.g., guilt) or appreciation answering open-ended questions, starting by towards other emotions, such as sympathy firstly giving an induction in a form of a towards others’ interest and wellbeing (Eisenberg, hypothetical moral dilemma story from Malti and 2000; Haidt, 2003; Tangney, Stuewig, & Mashek, Buchmann (2010). These were adapted to 2007). Moral emotion depends on one's Indonesian context. The study participants were experience and evaluation of the social world 852 adolescents in Semarang. There were two (Drummond, 2012). This self-evaluation process moral dilemmas that involve temptation to violate can appear before, or after, the moral decision- moral rules for their personal interests. making process and behavior occurs. In other Participants were asked to read the story and, after words, individuals can anticipate or evaluate finishing each story, participants were instructed moral violations (Malti & Ongley, 2014; to answer the following questions: (a) What they Tangney, et al, 2007). Anticipated moral emotion will do (moral decisions), (b) How they feel when is important in identifying desires of future they will do this (emotional anticipation), and (c) actions in making moral decisions (Baumeister, Why they do it and why they feel that way Vohs, DeWall, & Zhang, 2007). In some studies, (justification).All responses given by participants the choice of moral decisions and the emergence will be coded and grouped to form decision- of positive emotions do not always co-exist. Many making patterns and moral emotions. people agree that making moral-conflict decisions evokes emotional reactions (Drummond, 2012). Results and Discussion The psychological theory of morality explains that making moral decisions leads to an increase in Moral emotions serve as a motivation to act in feeling, consistent with our aspirations about accordance to moral norms, playing a significant ourselves (Hoffman,2000; Krettenauer & role in decision making and moral behavior Johnston, 2011) and tends to lead to positive (Cushman, 2013; Eisenberg, 2000; Krettenauer, feelings (Kristjansson, 2010). Jia, & Mosleh, 2011). Individuals can anticipate Emotions provide important information about what emotions will be felt, by both the offender how adolescents interpret the affective and victim, before a moral offense is committed consequences of decisions taken in moral-conflict (e.g., guilt, regret, sadness, anger).Experience and situation (Malti & Latzko, 2012). Hypothetical anticipation of moral emotion are considered as moral dilemmas scenarios are used as a way to indicators of internalization, commitment, and trigger emotions. This study uses two stories from adherence to moral norms, even in situations different contexts to determine the emotions and where moral actions conflict with selfish desires decisions taken by adolescents in dealing with or norm violations do not involve external moral dilemmas, when personal desires contradict sanctions (Keller, 2004). existing norms and rules.

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Table 1. Moral emotion and pattern emotion formed

This study found that most adolescents have Kilpatrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001). Grateful happy moralist patterns. Teens are happy to make people are often motivated in responding to decisions that are consistent with moral norms prosocial situations. Gratitude does not only because they recognize negative consequences for benefit to aid providers but also others. According the third-parties involved in moral dilemmas to adolescents, being grateful will allow them to (Oser, 2000). Our findings support the results of receive a reward from God for bringing happiness Keller's research (2004) which shows that most to others. adolescents feel happy when acting in line with Another emotion that adolescents feel is moral norms. Positive emotions that arise in sincerity. Adolescents are sincere when, for an adolescents with happy moralist patterns are example, they show a truly strong desire to help emotions of happiness, pride, gratitude, sincerity, someone who lose their wallets. They also show sympathy, and not feeling guilty. Adolescents feel sympathy. This is seen when they are being happy when doing good deeds and feeling useful understanding of what someone experienced, to others. Prototypes of moral emotions with allowing them to agree in waiting a little longer positive valence are pride, gratitude, and elevation for the person to arrive. According to Haidt (Tracy, Robins, & Tangney, 2007). Adolescents (2003), sympathy is a moral foundation. Humans feel proud when they are able to help others have the nature to feel uncomfortable when other instead of pursuing their own interests. Pride people suffer, sometimes eliciting the initiative to plays a very important role in psychological help. Some researchers attempted to revive the functions, including strengthening prosocial term "sympathy", an older term, which refers to behavior, increasing self-esteem, and having an emotional reaction based on the concerns of adaptive functions (Tracy & Robins, 2007). On others’ emotional state or condition. This involves the other hand, lack of pride is related to feelings of sadness or concern for others. Even the aggression and antisocial behavior. Gratitude is a word sympathy refers to the tendency of two pleasant emotional state, such as feeling free from things to move together, "the tendency to think or debt regardless of obligations and unpleasant feel the same". Sympathy (feeling concerned feelings (Tangney et al, 2007). Feelings of about others) and empathy (feeling how others gratitude can be a result of moral behavior (e.g., feel) regulates many social interactions in prosocial, helping), and could lead to motivation humans. to behave morally (e.g., prosocial behavior) Adolescents experience the phenomenon of (Jourdheuil & Petit, 2015; McCullough, unhappy moralist. It arises when individuals feel

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unhappy or negatively for making a decision to Guilt can lead to prosocial behavior, improvement behave in a certain way based on their moral in relationships, motivate someone to do good and standard (Oser, Schmid, & Hattersley, 2006). The avoid violations, minimize injustice and negative emotion that appears are products of self- emotional distress (Roos, 2014; Xu, Begue, & evaluation (e.g., shame, guilt) that adolescents use Shankland, 2011). Individuals with no guilt have to make decisions that are in line with the moral destructive properties that could lead to antisocial norm. However, negative emotion arises because behavior (Xu et al, 2011). Guilt usually motivates adolescents felt that their decision have sacrificed the improvement of actions to ease any tension their own needs, causing them to feel unhappy for created by unacceptable behavior (Tangney et al., not violating the rules. We predict that unhappy 2007). Guilt is also associated with attempts to moralist appears because of the lack of motivation deal with anger and reduced levels of aggression to sacrifice one’s hedonistic drive that relates to (Tangney & Dearing, 2004). Adolescents with the moral option (Oser et al, 2006). Unhappy lack guilt are characterized by patterns of moralist arises because individuals feel unhappy aggressive and antisocial behavior (Frick & with decisions that does not conform to their White, 2008). Although guilt is considered as a choice. Adolescents feel that they are torn negative emotion, it could also encourage people between two conflicting value systems, to conduct good deeds (Xu, Bègue, & Bushman, orientation towards success and preventing 2012). Adolescent scan feel both negative and injustice. positive emotions simultaneously (e.g., happy and Moral emotions that appear in unhappy sad, sorry and happy, relieved and worried, moralist are, among others, pity, shame, regret, hesitant and sincere, relieved but uneasy, relieved guilt, anxiety, emotion conflict, feeling bad, and and disappointed, happy and disappointed, etc.). confusion. The moral emotion prototype for Mixed emotions can consist of two or more negative valence include guilt, shame, and pity positive and negative emotions, reflecting the (Tracy, Robins, & Tangney, 2007). Pity appears existence of Arsenio's moral conflict (2014). when the cause of the negative event cannot be The results of this study also gave rise to the controlled. For example, adolescents will show phenomenon of happy victimizers. Adolescents pity for someone who lost their wallet by thinking should no longer exhibit this pattern because we of how sad and confuse the person must feel. expect them to understand how third-party feels. Adolescents also shows anxious feelings. Those According to Gummerum, Lopez-Perez, who feel anxious will typically also feel confuse, Amrbona, Rodriguez, Dellaria, Smith, and Wilson unsure, defensive, and burdened. Adolescents (2015), the pattern of happy victimizer is found in feels anxious when there is an internal conflict children. Children will feel happy when they do between their heart and mind. For example, some an act that violates the rules because it is morally adolescents reported that returning someone’s wrong to push friends from the swing and wallet and fulfilling promises are a form of "victims" feel unpleasant emotions (negative responsibility. In reality, adolescents are confused emotions). However, as we get older, the feeling because they feel happy for finding large amount of happiness will decrease. Adults believe that the of money, but also disappointed for not getting perpetrator of violence will feel guilty or ashamed what they want because they conformed to the for moral offenses (unhappy victimizer). social norm. We also found that some adolescents felt Shame appears as an emotion that encourages nothing (neutral), both when making good moral adolescents to do good deeds according to moral decision and immoral decisions. According to a values. Shame plays an important role in a small number of adolescents, doing good or bad person's moral life (Tangney & Dearing, 2004). behavior is normal. This indicates that there is a Embarrassment arises when someone commits an possibility for adolescents to ignore or be unable action that violates internalized norms and feeling to identify their emotion. Therefore, further like he or she failed at meeting the norms of research is needed to explore the development of society. The anticipation of shame acts as a moral emotions in adolescents in more depth. regulator of good behavior. Shame is usually compared to guilt. Both emotions are negative Conclusion self-aware emotions. Shame is triggered by the awareness that others consider themselves to be This study shows that moral emotions can individuals with shortcomings. Guilt is the natural arise depending on the situation at hand. Moral emotional tendency that someone experience after emotion can encourage prosocial or altruistic making a mistake. moral decision making, namely the decision to Guilt is characterized by anticipating bad help others for the benefit of that person. Most feelings before committing an act of violation adolescents believe that making the right moral (Tangney & Dearing, 2004; Tangney et al, 2007; decision can be based on positive emotions (e.g., Tangney, Stuewig, Mashek, & Hastings, 2011). happiness, pride, gratitude, sincerity, sympathy,

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and not feeling guilty), allowing happy moralist Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and pattern to appear. However, negative emotions moral development.Annual Review of (e.g., pity, shame, regret, guilt, anxiety, emotion Psychology, 51, 665–697. conflict, feeling bad, and confusion) can also Frick, P. J., & White, S. F. (2008). Research anticipate unhappy moralist. Happy victimizer review: The importance of callous- and unhappy victimizer patterns also appear in unemotional traits for developmental adolescents. In addition, adolescents will models of aggressive and antisocial experience emotional conflict and feel behavior. The Journal of Child Psychology uncomfortable when faced with mixed positive- and Psychiatry, 49(4), 359-375. negative emotions. In this study, a pattern arises doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01862.x that cannot be classified into existing patterns Gummerum, M., Lopez-Perez, B., Amrbona, T., because adolescents feel normal and do not feel Rodriguez, S., Dellaria, G., Smith, G., & any emotion when making moral and immoral Wilson, E.(2015). Children’s Moral decisions. Emotion Attribution in the Happy Based on our findings, further qualitative and Victimizer Task: The Role of Response quantitative research on moral emotion is needed. Format. Journal of Genetic Psychology: Additionally, this research only used two types of Research and Theory on Human moral dilemma case which might have limited the Development, 177, 1-16. Doi: various moral emotions that could be triggered. 10.1080/00221325.2015.1103694. Thus, future studies are advised to create various Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its complex moral dilemma cases based on the daily Rational tail: A social intuitionist approach problems of adolescents. to moral judgment. Psychological Review. 108 (4), 814-834 Haidt,J.(2003). The Moral Emotions. In: R. J. References Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.) Handbook of affective Arsenio, W. (2014). Moral emotion attributions sciences (pp. 852-870). Oxford: Oxford and aggression. In M. Killen & J. Smetana University Press. (Eds.), Handbook of moral development Hoffman, M. L. (1982). Development of prosocial (pp. 235- 255). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence motivation: Empathy and guilt. Dalam N. Erlbaum. Eisenberg (Ed.), The development of Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., DeWall, C. N., & prosocial behavior. New York: Academic Zhang, L. (2007).How emotion shapes Press. behavior: Feedback, anticipation, and Jourdheuil,R. & Petit, E.(2015). Moral emotions reflection, rather than direct causation. and prosocial behaviors: A review. REP,125 Personality and Social Psychology (4). Bulletin, 11, 167–203. Keller, M. (2004). Self in relationship. Dalam D. Blasi, A. (2004). Moral functioning: Moral K. Lapsley & D. Narvaez (Eds.), Moral understanding and personality. Dalam D. development, self, and identity (hal. 267– K. Lapsley and D Narvaez (Editor), Moral 298). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. development, self, and identity (hal. 335– Krettenauer, T., & Johnston, M. (2010). Positively 349). Mahwah, NJ: Nawrence Erlbaum. versus negatively charged moral emotions Cushman,F.(2013).Action, outcome, and value: A expectancies in adolescence: The role of dual-system framework for situational context and the developing moral morality.Personality & Social Psychology self. British Journal of Developmental Review. 17(3).273- Psychology, 29, 475–488. doi:10.1348/ 292.DOI:10.1177/1088868313495594. 026151010X508083. Desmita.(2005).Psikologi perkembangan. Krettenauer, T., Jia, F., & Mosleh, M. (2011). The Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya. role of emotion expectancies in adolescents’ Drummond, J. J. (2012). Feelings, emotions, and moral decision making. Journal of Wertnehmungen. Invited plenary address Experimental Child Psychology, 108, 358– at the meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft 370. doi:10.1348/026151010X508083. fuer phaenomenologische Forschung, Krettenauer, T., Campbell, S., & Hertz, S. (2013). Berlin, Germany. Dalam Malti,T., Moral emotions and the development of the Keller,M., & Buchmann,M. Do moral moral self in childhood. European Journal choices make us feel good? The of Developmental Psychology, 10, 159–173. development of adolescents emotions doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.762750. following moral decision making. Journal Kristjansson, K. (2012). The self and its emotions. of Research on Adolescence,23(2), 389- In Malti,T., Keller,M., & 397. Doi:10.1111/jora.12005. Buchmann,M.(editor). Do moral choices

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