Do Audiences Judge the Morality of Characters Relativistically? How Interdependence Affects Perceptions of Characters’ Temporal Moral Descent

Abstract

In two pre-registered studies, we leveraged recent advances to disposition theory to examine whether character judgments are relative. We used a Pilot Study to develop a moral continuum of behaviors for a hypothetical television series. We referenced our established moral continuum to create behavioral sequences that represented two characters descending into immorality. We manipulated whether one or both characters were present in the narrative. The simultaneous presence of both characters polarized participants’ moral evaluations of character behavior, categorization of the characters as heroic/villainous, and character liking. Our findings substantiate the systematic effects that character interdependence has on disposition formation. An improved understanding of narrative context can specify when between- and within-character comparisons occur and what effects character interdependence has on disposition theory’s processes. We discuss how narrative schemas, character schemas, and character networks can serve as the elements for explicating the role of narrative context in disposition theory.