Publications

SSRN

Article

Consistent Belief in a Good True Self in Misanthropes and Three Interdependent Cultures

By: Julian De Freitas, Hagop Sarkissian, George E. Newman, Igor Grossman, Felipe De Brigard, Andres Luco and Joshua Knobe

People sometimes explain behavior by appealing to an essentialist concept of the self, often referred to as the true self. Existing studies suggest that people tend to believe that the true self is morally virtuous; that is deep inside, every person is motivated to... View Details

Keywords: Concepts; Social Cognition; Moral Reasoning; True Self; Culture; Misanthropy; Behavior; Values and Beliefs; Moral Sensibility

Article

Normative Judgments and Individual Essence

By: Julian De Freitas, Kevin P. Tobia, George E. Newman and Joshua Knobe

A growing body of research has examined how people judge the persistence of identity over time—that is, how they decide that a particular individual is the same entity from one time to the next. While a great deal of progress has been made in understanding the types... View Details

Keywords: Concepts; Essentialism; Normative Factors; Persistence; True Self; Morality; Identity; Moral Sensibility; Perception

Article

Deep Down My Enemy Is Good: Thinking about the True Self Reduces Intergroup Bias

By: Julian De Freitas and Mina Cikara

Intergroup bias—preference for one's in-group relative to out-groups—is one of the most robust phenomena in all of psychology. Here we investigate whether a positive bias that operates at the individual-level, belief in a good true self, may be leveraged to reduce... View Details

Keywords: Intergroup Bias; True Self; Essentialism; Lay Theories

Article

Origins of the Belief in Good True Selves

By: Julian De Freitas, Mina Cikara, Igor Grossman and Rebecca Schlegel

Despite differences in beliefs about the self across cultures and relevant individual differences, recent evidence suggests that people universally believe in a ‘true self’ that is morally good. We propose that this belief arises from a general tendency: psychological... View Details

Keywords: Self; True Self; Psychological Essentialism; Values and Beliefs; Moral Sensibility

2015
Article

Beliefs About the True Self Explain Asymmetries Based on Moral Judgment

By: George E. Newman, Julian De Freitas and Joshua Knobe

Past research has identified a number of asymmetries based on moral judgments. Beliefs about (a) what a person values, (b) whether a person is happy, (c) whether a person has shown weakness of will, and (d) whether a person deserves praise or blame seem to depend... View Details

Keywords: Concepts; Social Cognition; Moral Reasoning; True Self; Values; Weakness Of Will; Blame; Values and Beliefs; Identity; Moral Sensibility; Happiness

July 2015
Article

The Moral Virtue of Authenticity: How Inauthenticity Produces Feelings of Immorality and Impurity

By: F. Gino, Maryam Kouchaki and Adam D. Galinsky

The current research demonstrates that authenticity is directly linked to morality. Across five experiments, we found that experiencing inauthenticity consistently led participants to feel more immoral and impure. This inauthenticity→feeling immoral link produced an... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Emotions

2014
Conference Presentation

Beliefs about the True Self Explain Asymmetries Based on Moral Judgment

By: J. E. Newman, J. De Freitas and J. Knobe

2003
Conference Paper

Follow the Money: What Really Drives Technology Innovation in Construction

By: John D. Macomber

Technology enthusiasts, academics, and software companies remain concerned about the slow pace of innovation in the construction industry. Tools are widely available that seem to provide eminently sensible and clearly apparent improvement to the process of design and... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Technological Innovation; Construction; Design; Performance Improvement; Motivation and Incentives; Knowledge Management; Adoption; Business Model; Capital Structure; Supply Chain