With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility Transgressions by More Powerful Actors Elicit Greater Moral Outrage

Abstract

Highlights• We investigated whether observers’ moral outrage toward transgressors was influenced by the power of the transgressor.• Participants reported more moral outrage toward powerful transgressors when recalling past transgressions, witnessing selfish economic behavior, and observing bullying compared to less powerful transgressors.• These effects were mediated by perceptions that powerful transgressors caused more harm to victims and eroded the group’s moral norms.

Keywords: morality, perception, power