Moral Diversity Fosters Cultural Looseness and Reduces Norm Policing

Merrick Robinson Osborne & Mohammad Atari

Social Psychological and Personality Science2026https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506261429540article
AJG 3ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

How does moral diversity shape a community’s response to norm violations? Here, we argue that increased moral diversity may lead to greater tolerance for deviant behaviors and a lower propensity to enforce norms. In Studies 1 to 2, we examine two large-scale datasets, and in Studies 3 to 7, we conduct pre-registered controlled experiments ( N = 1,058), showing that people in more (versus less) morally diverse communities believe that the community’s norms are looser. In turn, norm violations are more accepted, and there is a reduced willingness to police transgressions. Our findings complement prior work on moral echo chambers and offer a new lens for understanding why communities and individuals differ in their tolerance of rule-breaking behavior.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506261429540

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@article{merrick2026,
  title        = {{Moral Diversity Fosters Cultural Looseness and Reduces Norm Policing}},
  author       = {Merrick Robinson Osborne & Mohammad Atari},
  journal      = {Social Psychological and Personality Science},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506261429540},
}

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Moral Diversity Fosters Cultural Looseness and Reduces Norm Policing

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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