People's moral values literally change with the season
Do you ever feel more inclined towards group loyalty and conformity during certain times of the year? There’s a surprising reason for that. Turns out our moral values could potentially be shifting with the seasons, and researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are here to shed light on how and why that happens.
The study’s first author, Ian Hohm, a doctoral student in UBC’s department of psychology, led this fascinating exploration into the fluctuating morals of humans.
“People’s endorsement of moral values that promote group cohesion and conformity is stronger in the spring and fall than it is in the summer and winter,” noted Hohm.
Understanding this seasonal ebb and flow of morality has implications for politics, law, health, and many more aspects of our lives.
The researchers analyzed responses from over 230,000 people in the U.S., spanning a decade. And it wasn’t just confined to the American population – smaller data samples from Canada and Australia exhibited the same seasonal patterns.
