Lexicon connection priming and ethics: As our sense of human connection decreases, so too does our ethical decision-making

Abstract

In an era increasingly surrounded by images, it is all too easy to overlook the power of the humble word. Recent studies have shown that images depicting human disconnection can weaken our morals. This paper reveals three new experiments that demonstrate that words can replicate this phenomenon. The results of experiments 1 and 2 show that an increase of unethical decision-making can be triggered via lexicon primes that convey the idea of human disconnection. Experiment 3 suggests that while priming the idea of human disconnection can loosen our morals, priming the idea of human connection can increase ethical decision-making. The three experiments also indicate that the primes are more effective when they are indirect (such as via the use of metaphors), and when they are created to seemingly appear to come from the participants themselves (such as asking participants to list evidence for a given statement).