Incidental Character Information Influences Moral Judgments Across Domains

Would a penchant for animal cruelty influence how much someone is blamed for lying on a tax return? While extant literature shows that moral character evaluations can influence subsequent moral judgments, it is unclear whether this influence is domain-general or domain-specific. Does receiving information about any morally bad character trait increase blame, or only traits that are similar to the subsequent act? In two experiments (preregistered; N=1320), we investigated how incidental character information influence moral and causal judgments. Participants judged bad agents to be more blameworthy, more causal, and more deserving of punishment than good agents for committing the same act. This effect was robust across how the information was presented (Experiment 1) and different moral domains (Experiment 2). Our findings suggest that moral character exerts a domain-general influence on judgments, challenging the view that only traits that are similar or congruent to a subsequent act influence blame.