Moral Outrage in the Digital Age | Molly Crockett

Summary

Dr. Molly Crockett, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University, discusses the impact of social media on moral outrage. She explains that outrage is a response to moral violations and has evolved to promote cooperation within social groups. However, social media platforms, driven by engagement, may amplify outrage by promoting emotionally charged content. Crockett's research explores how online expressions of outrage have become easier and more habitual, potentially leading to negative consequences such as misinformation spread and political polarization. Her lab is developing an AI tool to measure online outrage and is investigating its societal effects.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Molly Crockett is an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University, focusing on the effects of social media on moral outrage.
• 📹 The Covington Catholic High School incident highlighted the rapid spread and potential misinformation of viral videos, leading to widespread outrage and subsequent corrections.
• 🗣️ Social media platforms' algorithms prioritize engaging content, which often includes emotionally charged material that can trigger moral outrage.
• 🔥 The expression of moral outrage online has become easier and more common, potentially leading to a perpetual state of outrage in the digital age.
• 🧠 Moral outrage is a mixture of anger and disgust at the violation of a moral standard, and it has evolved to promote cooperation within social groups.
• 🤝 Expressing moral outrage can boost an individual's social reputation, as it signals trustworthiness and willingness to uphold group norms.
• 🧩 Social media platforms may be altering the nature of moral outrage by changing the costs and benefits associated with its expression.
• 📈 The ease of expressing outrage online can lead to more frequent and intense reactions, potentially skewing the perception of moral violations.
• 🤖 Crockett's lab is developing an AI tool called the 'Digital Outrage Classifier' to measure expressions of outrage in social media posts.
• 🔮 The research suggests that social media may amplify personal benefits of expressing outrage while reducing some social benefits, leading to potential negative consequences for society.
• 🌐 The study's findings will be shared on the Digital Outrage Project website, highlighting the impact of social media on moral emotions and societal behavior.

Q & A

Who is Molly Crockett and what is her profession?

Molly Crockett is an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University.

What incident involving Covington Catholic High School students went viral in January?

A video was posted online showing students from Covington Catholic High School appearing to taunt a Native-American man while wearing 'Make America Great Again' red hats.

What was the public reaction to the initial video of the Covington Catholic High School incident?

The video clip went viral, and members of the liberal tribe expressed outrage on social media, with some calling for bans on teens wearing MAGA hats and others demanding the students be named and shamed.

What happened after a longer video of the Covington Catholic High School incident emerged?

The longer video suggested the incident was more complicated than originally thought, leading to some journalists expressing remorse for their initial reporting and a shift in the public discourse.

What is moral outrage and why do people express it?

Moral outrage is broadly considered a mixture of anger and disgust at the violation of a moral standard. People express it to shame and punish wrongdoers, especially when observed by others, which can discourage bad behavior and promote cooperation within social groups.

How does social media's business model influence the type of content users see?

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter make more money the longer they hold users' attention, so their algorithms prioritize content that draws the most engagement, which tends to be emotional and moral in nature.

What was the hypothesis Molly Crockett proposed regarding the impact of social media on moral outrage?

Molly Crockett hypothesized that social media might be changing the nature of moral outrage by altering the stimuli that trigger it, the ease of expressing it, and the consequences of such expressions, potentially leading to more frequent and intense experiences of outrage.

What is the 'Digital Outrage Classifier' and what is it used for?

The 'Digital Outrage Classifier' is an AI tool developed by Molly Crockett's lab at Yale to measure expressions of outrage online. It can analyze millions of Tweets and determine whether each one expresses outrage or not.

How does social media potentially affect the expression and consequences of moral outrage?

Social media can reduce the costs associated with expressing outrage, such as effort and risk of retaliation, and can amplify the personal benefits by extending the reach of moral signals to a wider audience, potentially leading to more habitual and mindless expressions of outrage.

What are some of the potential negative consequences of the way social media amplifies moral outrage?

Potential negative consequences include a worse ability to coordinate punishment, the spread of disinformation and propaganda, and the rise in political polarization as outrage expressions may push people towards extremes or create false beliefs about the level of outrage in society.

What is the Digital Outrage Project and how can one follow its progress?

The Digital Outrage Project is an initiative by Molly Crockett's team at Yale to study the impact of social media on moral outrage. More results will be released on their website, digitaloutrageproject.org, where interested individuals can sign up for updates.