The effect of group belongingness on the relationship among moral foundations, moral disengagement and the need for cognitive closure

The aim of this study is to reveal some of the socio-cognitive and psychological processes that cause an ordinary individual to engage in immoral actions (perhaps "causing a good person to do evil"), which has been wondered by many researchers in recent years and has become the center of attention. From this point of view, the main purpose of the present study is to determine how the mechanisms of moral disengagement used in violation of different moral foundations emerge in terms of both individual characteristics and group processes. The research was conducted with totally of 748 university students, aged between 18 and 28, studying at different private and public universities. "Demographic Information Form", "Legitimization of Violations of Moral Foundations Scale" and "Need for Cognitive Closure Scale" were applied to the participants. The findings of the study showed that group belongingness and the need for cognitive closure do not have a significant effect on the level of moral disengagement that occurs in care and justice violations, whereas group belongingness and the need for cognitive closure have an important role on the level of moral disengagement used in loyalty, authority and sanctity violations. In addition, it has been observed that while in violation of the principles related to the rights of individuals, justice or non doing-harm, in-group favoritism was not observed; in violation of the principles of solidarity that strengthens the group's commitment and suppresses selfishness within the group more in-group favoritism was observed. This leads to the conclusion that context is an important factor in in-group favoritism. In conclusion, the fact that individuals do not legitimize the immoral behavior of someone from the group they belong to in violation of individualizing principles shows that the context has an important effect on ingroup favoritism.