Conflict and Reflection: Divergence from moral foundations predicts reflection on films

Abstract

Previously, we found that theory of mind predicts the moral understanding of fiction films – despite negatively predicting reflection on those films. The present study addresses this paradoxical finding. Importantly, the previous study only tested popular movies that participants had seen long ago, so it is possible either the relatively simple moral messages inherent to the movies or the long-term retrospective reports of reflection made it appear as though theory of mind skills are associated with low reflection. Also, it is possible that these movies produced small amounts of cognitive conflict which led participants to dismiss them after viewing them. By presenting participants with a novel short film and manipulating their expectations of the film, we aimed to induce greater cognitive conflict and reflection in those given a misleading description of the film. Mediation analyses replicated our previous finding that theory of mind negatively predicted reflection while positively predicting moral understanding, reinforcing the causal relationship between these variables. Exploratory analyses revealed the differences between one’s dispositional moral foundations and those foundations relevant predicted reflection and moral understanding. We discuss how these findings inform research on the moral understanding of film.