DATE: March 28, 2025 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Twin study uncovers heritable roots of moral thinking

URL: https://www.psypost.org/twin-study-uncovers-heritable-roots-of-moral-thinking/

A study published in Personality & Individual Differences reports that our fundamental moral orientations may be significantly influenced by our genetics. Conducted by Timothy C. Bates, this research reveals that whether we lean toward utilitarian or Kantian ethical frameworks might be partially written in our DNA.

For centuries, moral philosophers have debated two competing ethical frameworks. Utilitarianism, championed by Jeremy Bentham, holds that the right action is whatever maximizes overall well-being. In contrast, Kantian ethics maintains that certain moral duties are absolute, regardless of consequences.

While these competing viewpoints were long thought to stem from psychological differences, the question remained: are these differences shaped primarily by our upbringing and environment, or do they have deeper biological roots?

To answer this question, Bates analyzed data from the Brisbane Adolescent Twin Study, examining 439 monozygotic (identical) twins, who share 100% of their genetic makeup, and 627 dizygotic (fraternal) twins, who share approximately 50% of their genes.

The participants, representative of the Australian population in terms of socioeconomic background and ethnicity, completed the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale (OUS), which measures two distinct dimensions of utilitarian thinking: Impartial Beneficence (the commitment to maximizing well-being impartially, without favoring any individual or group) and Instrumental Harm (the willingness to use coercion or harm to achieve a greater good).

Impartial Beneficence showed 58% heritability, while Instrumental Harm demonstrated 42% heritability. Overall utilitarian inclination had a heritability estimate of 52%. These two dimensions of utilitarian thinking were largely genetically independent. This means that someone genetically predisposed to care deeply about maximizing well-being for all isn’t necessarily inclined to support causing harm to achieve those goals.

The study found minimal evidence for shared environmental influences, suggesting that growing up in the same household had little impact on developing these moral perspectives. Instead, differences were primarily shaped by genetics and unique environmental experiences.

Bates acknowledges that the focus on Australian twins may limit the generalizability of these findings. Future studies could explore whether these genetic influences remain consistent across different cultural and socio-political contexts.

The study, “Genetic origins of Utilitarian versus Kantian moral philosophy in heritable motivations for egalitarian beneficence and coercive redistribution” was authored by Timothy C. Bates.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/twin-study-uncovers-heritable-roots-of-moral-thinking/

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DATE: March 28, 2025 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: Science fiction may help foster a sense of global solidarity by evoking awe, study finds

URL: https://www.psypost.org/science-fiction-may-help-foster-a-sense-of-global-solidarity-by-evoking-awe-study-finds/

Science fiction may be more than just entertainment. New research suggests that regularly engaging with science fiction—whether through films, books, or other media—can help people feel a stronger connection to humanity as a whole. The researchers found that science fiction’s ability to evoke awe, a powerful emotion triggered by vast and novel experiences, plays a key role in this effect. Across three studies conducted in China, they showed that exposure to science fiction narratives increases people’s identification with all humanity, and that repeated engagement with the genre can promote this identification over time.

The research, published in Communication Research, was motivated by growing interest in the social and psychological effects of media. While past work has shown that certain kinds of narratives can promote empathy or reduce prejudice, much of that research has focused on specific storylines or emotional appeals. The authors of this study wanted to understand whether entire genres, like science fiction, might influence social attitudes in a more systematic way—and whether they could do so through emotional experiences that go beyond simple moral lessons or character-driven empathy.

In particular, the researchers focused on a concept called “identification with all humanity.” This refers to how much individuals feel connected to all people, regardless of nationality, race, or background. It reflects a broad, inclusive identity that supports concern for others around the globe. Previous studies have linked this identification to prosocial behaviors such as donating to international causes, supporting refugees, and caring about the environment. The authors theorized that science fiction, with its imaginative worlds and frequent focus on humanity’s shared future, might encourage people to adopt this global perspective.

To test their ideas, the researchers conducted three studies. In the first, they recruited 1,060 adults from across China and asked them to recall how different genres of film made them feel. Participants were randomly assigned to reflect on one of 12 genres, including science fiction, romance, comedy, action-adventure, and documentary. They were then asked how strongly those films had made them feel emotions associated with self-transcendence—emotions that make people feel connected to something larger than themselves. These included awe, gratitude, compassion, admiration, hope, and others.

Science fiction stood out. Compared to all other genres, it was most strongly associated with awe. Participants reported higher levels of awe while watching science fiction than when recalling any other type of film. Importantly, this pattern was not observed for the other self-transcendent emotions, suggesting that awe was a uniquely strong response to science fiction. This finding laid the groundwork for the next two studies, which tested whether awe could explain how science fiction influences identification with all humanity.

In the second study, the researchers conducted two controlled experiments with a combined sample of nearly 1,000 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three short stories: a science fiction narrative, a realistic narrative covering the same theme, or no narrative at all. For example, one experiment used a story about people fleeing an existential threat—either an asteroid (science fiction) or a wildfire (realistic). Another experiment used a story about futuristic versus contemporary cities.

After reading, participants reported their emotional responses and how connected they felt to humanity. Across both experiments, those who read the science fiction stories felt significantly more awe than those in the other groups. They also reported higher levels of identification with all humanity. Statistical analyses showed that the increase in awe explained the increase in global identification—meaning awe served as a mediator. Even when controlling for other emotions, such as hope or compassion, awe remained the most consistent emotional pathway connecting science fiction to global identification.

The third study looked at longer-term effects. The researchers recruited 543 college students for a three-wave panel study conducted over two months. At each time point, students reported how much science fiction they had engaged with recently, how often they had experienced awe in daily life, and how strongly they identified with humanity as a whole.

The results showed that cumulative engagement with science fiction predicted increases in everyday awe, which in turn predicted increases in identification with all humanity. In other words, the more participants immersed themselves in science fiction over time, the more likely they were to experience awe in their daily lives—and this helped build a stronger global identity.

This final study also revealed a reciprocal relationship: participants who already identified strongly with humanity tended to seek out more science fiction content in the following month. This suggests a feedback loop where people who value global unity may gravitate toward media that reinforces this mindset, which in turn strengthens their identification even more.

The researchers acknowledged some limitations. The first study relied on participants’ memories of past films, which may have been shaped by general impressions of genre rather than specific emotional reactions. The experiments used short written narratives rather than full-length films or other immersive media, which might influence the intensity of emotional responses. And although the findings were consistent across studies, all participants were from China—a country with strong collectivist cultural values—so future research in other cultural settings would help test the generalizability of the results.

Additionally, the authors emphasized that science fiction is not the only genre capable of promoting identification with all humanity. For instance, drama or romance may foster global concern through emotions like compassion or love. However, science fiction appears to foster this identification in a distinctive way—by expanding the mind and inspiring a sense of wonder at humanity’s place in the universe.

The study, “Entertainment for Cosmopolitism: Science Fiction Fosters Identification With All Humanity via Awe,” was authored by Fuzhong Wu and Zheng Zhang.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/science-fiction-may-help-foster-a-sense-of-global-solidarity-by-evoking-awe-study-finds/

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DATE: March 28, 2025 at 10:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

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TITLE: ChatGPT is shifting rightwards politically

URL: https://www.psypost.org/chatgpt-is-shifting-rightwards-politically/

An examination of a large number of ChatGPT responses found that the model consistently exhibits values aligned with the libertarian-left segment of the political spectrum. However, newer versions of ChatGPT show a noticeable shift toward the political right. The paper was published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

Large language models (LLMs) are artificial intelligence systems trained to understand and generate human language. They learn from massive datasets that include books, articles, websites, and other text sources. By identifying patterns in these data, LLMs can answer questions, write essays, translate languages, and more. Although they don’t think or understand like humans, they predict the most likely words based on context.

Often, the responses generated by LLMs reflect certain political views. While LLMs do not possess personal political beliefs, their outputs can mirror patterns found in the data they were trained on. Since much of that data originates from the internet, news media, books, and social media, it can contain political biases. As a result, an LLM’s answers may lean liberal or conservative depending on the topic. This doesn’t mean the model “believes” anything—it simply predicts words based on previous patterns. Additionally, the way a question is phrased can influence how politically slanted the answer appears.

Study author Yifei Liu and her colleagues aimed to explore whether—and how—the ideological stance of ChatGPT-3.5 and GPT-4 has changed over time. ChatGPT is one of the most popular and widely used LLMs, and the authors hypothesized that later versions might display a significant ideological shift compared to earlier ones.

To evaluate ChatGPT’s political orientation, the researchers used the Political Compass Test, a tool that maps political beliefs along two axes: economic (left–right) and social (authoritarian–libertarian). The study collected 3,000 responses from each GPT model included in the analysis.

The tests were conducted in developer mode and were designed to prevent earlier responses from influencing later ones. The sensitivity of the model was kept at the default setting to ensure the randomness of responses matched what regular users would experience. Prompts were submitted from three different accounts to account for possible variations in how the model responds to different users.

The results showed that ChatGPT consistently aligned with values in the libertarian-left quadrant. However, newer versions of the model exhibited a clear shift toward the political right. Libertarian-left values typically emphasize individual freedom, social equality, and voluntary cooperation, while opposing both authoritarian control and economic exploitation. In contrast, economic-right values prioritize free market capitalism, property rights, and minimal government intervention in the economy.

“This shift is particularly noteworthy given the widespread use of LLMs and their potential influence on societal values. Importantly, our study controlled for factors such as user interaction and language, and the observed shifts were not directly linked to changes in training datasets,” the study authors concluded.

“While this research provides valuable insights into the dynamic nature of value alignment in AI, it also underscores limitations, including the challenge of isolating all external variables that may contribute to these shifts. These findings suggest a need for continuous monitoring of AI systems to ensure ethical value alignment, particularly as they increasingly integrate into human decision-making and knowledge systems.”

The study sheds light on the current tendencies in ChatGPT responses. However, it is important to note that LLMs have no value systems of their own. Their responses depend on the selection of materials they are trained on and on instructions received by their developers. As these change, so will the answers provided by these systems.

The paper, ““Turning right”? An experimental study on the political value shift in large language models,” was authored by Yifei Liu, Yuang Panwang, and Chao Gu.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/chatgpt-is-shifting-rightwards-politically/

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