Perceiving someone as a moral agent reduces perceived moral patiency.

Evidence

Moral agency is the capacity to do right or wrong, whereas moral patiency is the capacity to be a target of right or wrong. Through 7 studies, the authors explored moral typecasting—an inverse relation between perceptions of moral agency and moral patiency. Across a range of targets and situations, goodand evil-doers (moral agents) were perceived to be less vulnerable to having good and evil done to them. The recipients of good and evil (moral patients), in turn, were perceived as less capable of performing good or evil actions. Moral typecasting stems from the dyadic nature of morality and explains curious effects such as people’s willingness to inflict greater pain on those who do good than those who do nothing. — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 1

These studies revealed that perceptions of moral agency are inversely related to perceptions of moral patiency in a variety of circumstances. This inverse relation was first observed when perceivers compared ordinary people with those having reduced moral agency (children in Study 1a and people with mental challenges in Study 1b). The opposition between moral agency and patiency also held across a range of targets, including those seen to possess relatively more moral agency than the average adult (Study 2). The results further indicated that perceptions of moral patiency and agency are inversely related when one or the other is manipulated experimentally. Increased patiency reduced perceptions of agency (Study 3a) and increased moral agency reduced perceptions of patiency, both for good agents (Study 3b) and evil agents (Study 3c). The effects of perceived agency on moral patiency were specific to the moral domain, however, as variations in general instrumental agency did not influence perceived patiency (Studies 4a and 4b). Perceptions of agency and patiency in a target generalize to further perceptions of that target (Study 5), and perceptions of agency or patiency in a target produce contrasting perceptions of other targets with whom they are associated (Study 6). — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 147

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines moral agency vs. moral patiency and the inverse relation of moral typecasting.
• XREF: The target-recategorization paradigm the reader seeks plausibly maps onto this agency/patiency inversion logic. — connects to: Only moral agency, not instrumental competence, suppresses perceived patiency — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 99; Moral agency specifically, not general agency, reduces perceived moral patiency.; Perceived moral agency and perceived moral patiency vary inversely across targets — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 39 (+13 more)
• SEED: Possible angle: does recategorizing a religious group as ‘ideological’ shift perceived patiency/agency in a parallel way, measurable as threat?
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 1; Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting: Divergent…, 147

Broader Connections

• Moral agency specifically, not general agency, reduces perceived moral patiency. #expands (0.90)
• Only moral agency, not instrumental competence, suppresses perceived patiency #expands (0.88) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 99
• Perceived moral agency and perceived moral patiency vary inversely across targets #expands (0.85) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 39
• Moral agency and patiency perceptions are inversely related, not linked. #expands (0.85) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 3
• Perceived moral agency uniquely suppresses perceived victimhood, separable from general agency #expands (0.82) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 105
• Perceiving someone as a moral agent may preclude perceiving them as a moral patient #expands (0.80) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 21
• Casting someone as a moral agent reduces perceived sensitivity to pain #exemplifies (0.80) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 88
• Perceived moral agency and perceived patiency may trade off inversely even at extreme levels. #expands (0.78) — Kurt Gray and Daniel M. Wegner, Moral Typecasting, 59