Abstract
This study investigated the psychological correlates of perceiving a discrepancy between one’s own moral beliefs and those of the greater society (a ‘moral discrepancy’). One hundred and one female Turkish students answered questions about their own moral beliefs, their perceptions of the greater society’s moral beliefs, and their mental health. Moral discrepancies were assessed using an adaptation of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (Graham et al. 2009), while mental health was assessed using the Symptom Check List-90-Revised (Derogatis 1992). Participants who perceived a discrepancy relating to fairness and reciprocity concerns reported more depressed and paranoid symptoms. It is suggested that moral discrepancies can create a vulnerability to depression and paranoid thinking by fostering a feeling of isolation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aleman, A., Kahn, R. S., & Selten, J. P. (2003). Sex differences in the risk of schizophrenia: Evidence from meta-analysis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 565–571. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsych.60.6.565.
Alpass, F. M., & Neville, S. (2003). Loneliness, health and depression in older males. Aging & Mental Health, 7, 212–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360786031000101193.
Aquino, K., & Reed II, A. (2002). The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1423–1440. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.6.1423.
Aycan, Z., Kanungo, R. N., Mendonca, M., Yu, K., Deller, J., Stalh, G., & Kurshid, A. (2000). Impact of culture on human resource management practices: A 10-country comparison. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49, 192–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00010.
Boldero, J., & Francis, J. (1999). Ideals, oughts, and self-regulation: Are there qualitatively distinct self-guides? Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 343–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-839X.00044.
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A. (2010). Perceived social isolation makes me sad: Five year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago health, aging, and social relations study. Psychology and Aging, 25, 453–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017216.
Cole, D. A., Martin, J. M., Peeke, L. A., Serczynski, A. D., & Fier, J. (1999). Children’s over- and underestimation of academic competence: A longitudinal study of gender differences, depression, and anxiety. Child Development, 70, 459–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00033.
Combs, D. R., & Penn, D. L. (2004). The role of subclinical paranoia on social perception and behaviour. Schizophrenia Research, 69, 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0920-9964(03)00051-3.
Cornwell, E. Y., & Waite, L. J. (2009). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and health among older adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 31–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214650905000103.
Dağ, İ. (1991). Belirti Tarama Listesi (SCL-90-R)‘nin üniversite öğrencileri için güvenirliği ve geçerliği. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi, 2, 5–12.
Derogatis, L. R. (1992). SCL-90-R, administration, scoring and procedures manual-II for the R(evised) version and other instruments of the Psychopathology Rating Scale Series. Townson: Clinical Psychometric Research.
Gilbert, P., Boxall, M., Cheung, M., & Irons, C. (2005). The relation of paranoid ideation and social anxiety in a mixed clinical population. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 12, 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.438.
Gradin, V. B., Pérez, A., MacFarlane, J. A., Cavin, I., Waiter, G., Engelmann, J., Dritschel, B., Pomi, A., Matthews, K., & Steele, J. D. (2015). Abnormal brain responses to social fairness in depression: An fMRI study using the Ultimatum Game. Psychological Medicine, 45, 1241–1251. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714002347.
Graham, J., & Haidt, J. (2011). Sacred values and evil adversaries: A moral foundations approach. In M. Mikulincer & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), The social psychology of morality: Exploring the causes of good and evil (pp. 11–31). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Graham, J., Haidt, J., & Nosek, B. A. (2009). Liberals and conservatives rely on different sets of moral foundations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 1029–1046. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015141.
Grippo, A. J., Gerena, D., Huang, J., Kumar, N., Shah, M., Ughreja, R., & Carter, S. C. (2007). Social isolation induces behavioural and neuroendocrine disturbances relevant to depression in female and male prairie voles. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32, 966–980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.07.004.
Haidt, J. (2007). The new synthesis in moral psychology. Science, 316, 998–1002. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1137651.
Hegtvedt, K. A., & Killian, C. (1999). Fairness to emotions: Reactions to the process and outcomes of negotiations. Social Forces, 78, 269–303. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/78.1.269.
Heinrich, L. M., & Gullone, E. (2006). The clinical significance of loneliness: A literature review. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 695–718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.04.002.
Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319–340. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.94.3.319.
Higgins, E. T., Bond, R. N., Klein, R., & Strauman, T. (1986). Self-discrepancies and emotional vulnerability: How magnitude, accessibility, and type of discrepancy influence affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 5–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.1.5.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. (Rev 3rd edn). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Iyer, R., Koleva, S., Graham, J., Ditto, P., & Haidt, J. (2012). Understanding libertarian morality: The psychological dispositions of self-identified libertarians. PLoS ONE, 7, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0042366.
Jaffee, S., & Hyde, J. S. (2000). Gender differences in moral orientation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 703–726. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.703.
Johnston, M. E., Sherman, A., & Grusec, J. E. (2013). Predicting moral outrage and religiosity with an implicit measure of moral identity. Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 209–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.01.006.
Kesting, M.-L., Bredenpohl, M., Klenke, J., Westermann, S., & Lincoln, T. M. (2013). The impact of social stress on self-esteem and paranoid ideation. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44, 122–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.07.010.
Lauer, R. E., Giordani, B., Boivin, M. J., Halle, N., Glasgow, B., Alessi, N. E., & Berent, S. (1994). Effects of depression on memory performance and metamemory in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 679–685. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199406000-00009.
Longmore, M. A., & Demaris, A. (1997). Perceived inequality and depression in intimate relationships: The moderating effect of self-esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60, 172–184. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787103.
MacBeth, A., Schwannauer, M., & Gumley, A. (2008). The association between attachment style, social mentalities, and paranoid ideation: An analogue study. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 81, 79–93. https://doi.org/10.1348/147608307X246156.
Marquardt, N., & Hoeger, R. (2009). The effect of implicit moral attitudes on managerial decision-making: An implicit social cognition approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1007/sl0551-008-9754-8.
Martin, J. A., & Penn, D. L. (2001). Social cognition and subclinical paranoid ideation. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 261–265. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466501163670.
Matos, M., Pinto-Gouveia, J., & Gilbert, P. (2012). The effect of shame and shame memories on paranoid ideation and social anxiety. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 20, 334–349. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.1766.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2001). Gender differences in depression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 173–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00142.
Panksepp, J., Yates, G., Ikemoto, S., & Nelson, E. (1991). Simple ethological models of depression: Social-isolation induced “despair” in chicks and mice. In B. Olivier, J. Mos, & J. L. Slangen (Eds.), Animal models in psychopharmacology (pp. 161–181). Basel: Birkhäuser.
Peker, M., Gündoğdu, N., & Booth, R. W. (2015). Perceived self-society moral discrepancies predict depression but not anxiety. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 18, 337–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12100.
Sartorius, N., Üstün, T. B., Lecrubier, Y., & Wittchen, H.-U. (1986). Depression comorbid with anxiety: Results from the WHO study on “Psychological disorders in primary health care”. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 38–43.
Schwartz, J. L. (1974). Relationship between goal discrepancy and depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 309. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0036127.
Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1993). The inevitability of oppression and the dynamics of social dominance. In P. Sniderman, P. Tetlock, & E. G. Carmines (Eds.), Prejudice, politics and the American dilemma (pp. 173–211). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Sidanius, J., Pratto, F., van Laar, C., & Levin, S. (2004). Social dominance theory: Its agenda and method. Political Psychology, 25, 845–880. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00401.x.
Sparr, J. L., & Sonnentag, S. (2008). Fairness perceptions of supervisor feedback, LMX, and employee well-being at work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 17, 198–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320701743590.
Stimpson, D., Jensen, L., & Neff, W. (1992). Cross-cultural gender differences in preference for a caring morality. Journal of Social Psychology, 132, 317–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1992.9924706.
Strauman, T.J. (1989). Self-discrepancies in clinical depression and social phobia: Cognitive structures that underlie emotional disorders?. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98(1), 14–22.
Tappin, B. M., & McKay, R. T. (2017). The illusion of moral superiority. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 623–631. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616673878.
Weilage, M., & Hope, H. A. (1999). Self-discrepancy in social phobia and dysthymia. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 23, 637–650. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018788925223.
West, D. A., Kellner, R., & Moore-West, M. (1986). The effects of loneliness: A review of the literature. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 27, 351–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-440X(86)90011-8.
Yalçındağ, B. (2015). Searching for the content and scope of morality with a framework of moral foundations theory. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
Yilmaz, O., Harma, M., Bahcekapili, H. G., & Cesur, S. (2016). Validation of the moral foundations questionnaire in Turkey and its relation to cultural schemas of individualism and collectivism. Personality and Individual Differences, 99, 149–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.090.
Ylipaavalniemi, J., Kivimäki, M., Elovainio, M., Virtanen, M., Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., & Vahtera, J. (2005). Psychosocial work characteristics and incidence of newly diagnosed depressions: A prospective cohort study of three different models. Social Science & Medicine, 61, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.11.038.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Mete Budak, Ayşe Nur Karkın, Ayca Ezgi Meriçtan, Seher Özdemir, and Tuğçe Yurtsever.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peker, M., Booth, R.W. & Güney, O. Perceived self-society moral discrepancies concerning fairness predict depression and paranoid ideation. Curr Psychol 40, 1152–1158 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0034-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0034-1