People exploit agent-and-patient casting to manage their own moral reputations

Evidence

To be seen as a benevolent moral agent, for example, moral typecasting would suggest a strategy: Go stand near a victim (and smile). Moral typecasting in the presence of a moral patient should yield perceptions of oneself as a moral agent, and these perceptions should tend toward perception of good agency in the presence of positive affect. On the other hand, if one had the Machiavellian aim to appear powerful and threatening, typecasting suggests that an effective technique would be to link oneself with victims in antagonistic interactions (cf. Jones & Pittman, 1982). Association with those who have been morally wronged could bias perceptions of anyone linked with such victims toward being seen as a potential victimizer. — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 168

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Mere association with a moral agent or patient shifts a target’s perceived moral standing — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 128; Perceived moral agency and perceived moral patiency vary inversely across targets — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 39; Moral typecasting operates independently of whether actions are good or bad — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 57 (+1 more)

Related

• People more readily punish good moral agents than moral patients. (similarity 0.87)
• Moral typecasting operates independently of whether actions are good or bad (similarity 0.86)
• Perceiving someone as a moral agent reduces perceived moral patiency. (similarity 0.86)
• Mere association with a moral agent or patient shifts a target’s perceived moral standing (similarity 0.86)
• Moral agency and patiency perceptions are inversely related, not linked. (similarity 0.86)
• Only moral agency, not instrumental competence, suppresses perceived patiency (similarity 0.84)
• Moral agency specifically, not general agency, reduces perceived moral patiency. (similarity 0.83)
• Enhancing perceived patiency reduces perceived agency, and vice versa (similarity 0.82)
• Perceived moral agency uniquely suppresses perceived victimhood, separable from general agency (similarity 0.82)
• Moral typecasting predicts neutral agents are victimized, contradicting just-world logic (similarity 0.82)
• Moral typecasting theory divides targets into agents, patients, and neutral roles for experimental comparison (similarity 0.81)
• Perceiving someone as an agent shifts how we categorize a paired neutral person (similarity 0.81)
• Perceived moral agency and perceived patiency may trade off inversely even at extreme levels. (similarity 0.81)
• Casting someone as a moral agent reduces perceived sensitivity to pain (similarity 0.80)
• Recategorizing someone as a victim shifts them toward moral-patient perceptions while suppressing perceived agency. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Moral agency runs on negative and positive self-sanctions #expands (0.75)