Moral beliefs influence action only when momentarily cognitively salient, not merely held.

Evidence

There are multiple forces shaping this field and competing to influence an individual’s mind. These forces, whether value, goal, motivation, or cultural norm, impact behavior in complex but predictable ways. Not all of these forces will be equally likely to influence behavior at any given moment, however. Which force takes precedence over others depends on many things, but one crucial factor is whether or not a given force has a cognitive advantage in that moment, trumping the others. The question therefore is not whether people hold the belief that it is wrong to behave dishonestly or hold the conviction that it is normative to be generous, but rather whether they think of those social standards at the moment they are tempted to behave dishonestly or selfishly. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 152

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the analytical bridge: the fumi-e ceremony works precisely by forcing God-awareness into cognitive competition against a public, human-visible norm.