The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.

2001/01/01 by Jonathan Haidt · 7,997 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Emotions and Moral Behavior #Epistemology #Intuitionism #Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development #Moral authority #Moral development #Moral disengagement #Moral psychology #Moral reasoning #Philosophy #Psychology #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social intuitionism #Social psychology #Sociology

paper · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.108.4.814

published in Psychological Review 108(4), 814-834 (American Psychological Association)

openalex publication_date 2001/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Research on moral judgment has been dominated by rationalist models, in which moral judgment is thought to be caused by moral reasoning. The author gives 4 reasons for considering the hypothesis that moral reasoning does not cause moral judgment; rather, moral reasoning is usually a post hoc construction, generated after a judgment has been reached. The social intuitionist model is presented as an alternative to rationalist models. The model is a social model in that it deemphasizes the private reasoning done by individuals and emphasizes instead the importance of social and cultural influences. The model is an intuitionist model in that it states that moral judgment is generally the result of quick, automatic evaluations (intuitions). The model is more consistent that rationalist models with recent findings in social, cultural, evolutionary, and biological psychology, as well as in anthropology and primatology.

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Related

• Moral Reasoning: Hints and Allegations
• Moral Complexity
• The disunity of moral judgment: Evidence and implications
• Thinking and feeling: Moral deliberation in a dual-process framework
• Dissolving the moral-conventional distinction