Moral disagreements: Unearthing pathways to constructive and destructive behavioral responses

Abstract Issues like transgender rights often provoke strong emotional reactions, leading to polarized conflicts. Moral psychology suggests that emotions like anger and disgust drive destructive behaviors, such as avoiding or insulting the opponent. However, we argue that constructive behaviors, such as listening to the opponent, are also possible. We propose that appraisals related to engaging and coping with moral disagreements also play critical roles in predicting different behaviors. In an online study with 902 participants from the UK, US, India, and Serbia, we explored these dynamics using a message exchange paradigm. Participants received a message, purportedly from another participant (“messenger”), that contradicted their attitudes toward transgender rights. They then provided emotional reactions, wrote a response, and indicated their willingness to engage in constructive or destructive behaviors with the messenger. Constructive behavioral intentions were predicted by greater empathy, lower disgust and anger toward the messenger, and a higher perceived ability to cope with responding. In contrast, destructive intentions were predicted by lower empathy, greater disgust, lower coping abilities, and higher perceived difficulty in responding. These findings enhance our understanding of behavioral responses to moral disagreements on contentious issues like transgender rights and suggest ways to promote constructive dialogue.