The use of hypnosis in the study of moral judgement
There are two arguments when considering moral judgement. Are they a result of reasoning or are they a result of emotions? There are studies and arguments that could support ether theory, however recent studies have pointed the finger towards moral judgements stemming from emotion and intuition as opposed to reasoning.
In 2002 Green and Haidt conducted a eta-analysis experiment that focussed on moral judgement. They found that although reasoning certainly plays a significant role, there is more evidence that intuition and emotion determine moral judgement. They also discovered through brain imaging, that there are specific parts of the brain that are used when making these judgements.
2005 saw Wheatley and Haidt research the effect of hypnosis on moral judgement. 64 participants went through a series of group hypnosis sessions, during which they were given posthypnotic suggestions to feel disgusted when reading a particular word such as ‘take’ or ‘often’. These suggestions were designed so that the participants would not remember these instructions until prompted.
The participants were then asked to judge specific situations and the results showed that they showed more disgust when a specific work was used in the situation description. When one of the words from the posthypnotic suggestions was present they rated the moral transgressions as more morally wrong. The researchers therefor reached the conclusion that intuition and feelings can influence moral judgements.