Ulas Kaplan

Multiplicity of Emotions in Moral Judgment and Motivation

Multiple moral emotions were examined from a dynamic motivational framework through two hypothetical dilemmas that originate from the cognitive-developmental research program in morality. A questionnaire based on recognition task measurement of moral motivation and emotions was administered to 546 college students. As part of the dynamic complexity of moral motivation, intrapersonal operation of multiple emotions were expected and found toward each emotion target in each judgment context. Compassion and distress were among the most important moral emotions. Relatively strong degrees of anger and hate were reported toward the victimizers in ways that distinguished judgment choices. Participants distinguished a variety of positive emotions from anger and hate through differential associations with judgment choices. The study revealed orderly patterns of variability in the multiplicity of moral emotional experience based on relations with specific emotion targets, judgment choices, and developmental quality of moral motivation. The overall developmental quality of moral motivation was negatively associated with hate and positively associated with anger toward the victimizers. Emotional awareness was also found to be positively related to the developmental quality of moral motivation. Exploring the intrapersonal multiplicity of moral emotional experience has important implications for understanding the complexity of moral decision making and motivation.

Moral Motivation Based on Multiple Developmental Structures: An Exploration of Cognitive and Emotional Dynamics

ABSTRACT Intrapersonal variability and multiplicity in the complexity of moral motivation were examined from Dynamic Systems and Self-Determination Theory perspectives. L. Kohlbergs (1969) stages of moral development are reconceptualized as soft-assembled and dynamically transformable process structures of motivation that may operate simultaneously within person in different degrees. Moral motivation is conceptualized as the real-time process of self-organization of cognitive and emotional dynamics out of which moral judgment and action emerge. A detailed inquiry into intrapersonal variation in moral motivation is carried out based on the differential operation of multiple motivational structures. A total of 74 high school students and 97 college students participated in the study by completing a new questionnaire, involving 3 different hypothetical moral judgments. As hypothesized, findings revealed significant multiplicity in the within-person operation of developmental stage structures, and intrapersonal variability in the degrees to which stages were used. Developmental patterns were found in terms of different distributions of multiple stages between high school and college samples, as well as the association between age and overall motivation scores. Differential relations of specific emotions to moral motivation revealed and confirmed the value of differentiating multiple emotions. Implications of the present theoretical perspective and the findings for understanding the complexity of moral judgment and motivation are discussed.

Psychophysiological Coherence as a Function of Mental Imagery Practice

In this experimental study, we explored effects of mental imagery practice on psychophysiological coherence, measured as heart rhythm coherence. A total of 82 undergraduates participated in the study and were randomly assigned to mental imagery, thought monitoring, and control groups. The experiment took a period of 3 weeks, during which the first group regularly practiced two imagery exercises, and the second group practiced a thought monitoring exercise. Participants in all three groups visited a lab, twice a week, where their heart rhythm coherence was measured by a device that monitors heart rate variability. Results showed significant increases in heart rhythm coherence as a function of mental imagery practice. The effects of thought monitoring practice were much more limited. Methodological limitations of the study were discussed particularly in terms of the regulation of thought monitoring practice. Suggestions for future study include manipulating possible sources of variation in the effectiveness of imagery practice, and making connections between the cognitive study of imagery and its therapeutic function.

MICRODEVELOPMENT OF DAILY WELL-BEING THROUGH MENTAL IMAGERY PRACTICE

In this study, we present a qualitative approach to changes in daily well-being as a function of mental imagery practice. Each morning for a period of 1 week, participants practiced a brief (approximately 1- to 2-minute long) mental imagery practice designed to facilitate well-being. Upon completing each exercise, they provided brief written reflections on their well-being. Qualitative analysis of these subjective reports revealed significant patterns that correspond to three of the four major components of well-being (positive affect, vitality, negative affect) examined by researchers from a Self-Determination Theory perspective. All participants reported immediate well-being benefits of mental imagery practice, and these benefits reflected several patterns that we identified. As these changes take place in seconds and minutes, this study reflects a microdevelopmental approach to well-being from a Dynamic Systems perspective. The value of exploring short-term imagery-related improvements in well-being in combination with long-term influences is discussed.