The Ethics of Sexual Activity Dylan Selterman, Ph.D. Sena Koleva, Ph.D. Amy C. Moors, Ph.D.

Sexual Ethics Promiscuity Cheating/Infidelity Lying/Secrets

Sexual Ethics Why harshly judge these behaviors? Harm caused? Disgusting? Disloyal? Others?

Background Moral Foundations Theory 1 Harm/Care Fairness/Injustice Liberty/Oppression Loyalty/Betrayal Authority/Disrespect Purity/Degradation Most research: Abstract moral principles (i.e., agreement with general statements such as “chastity is an important and valuable virtue”) 1 Haidt (2012)

Background Moral Foundations Theory 1 Harm/Care Fairness/Injustice Liberty/Oppression Loyalty/Betrayal Authority/Disrespect Purity/Degradation Most research: Abstract moral principles (i.e., agreement with general statements such as “chastity is an important and valuable virtue”) 1 Haidt (2012)

Relationship norms Moral judgment of relationship behaviors1 Sexual Threat (watching others have sex) Emotional Threat (keeping romantic memorabilia) Friendship Boundaries (dating a close friend’s ex- partner) Privacy (snoop in pockets/email) Digital Infidelity (“sexting”) Purity >> other moral foundations Most research: Abstract moral principles (i.e., agreement with general statements such as “chastity is an important and valuable virtue”) 1 Selterman & Koleva (2015)

Experimental data Scenario: Character breaks up with partner. Sleeps with someone before or after breakup. Ex-partner does not find out in either case. The Reddit participants were slightly older and more likely to be male compared to the student participants, but when we controlled for this recruitment variable, the results were not changed significantly.

Study 3 Condition 1 (Breakup First). We would like you to imagine Adam and Jessica, who are in an exclusive (monogamous) and committed romantic relationship. Adam is unhappy with the relationship and is planning to break up. Adam meets someone new named Amy, whom he feels very attracted to. Immediately Adam ends his relationship with Jessica (they talk and he breaks up with her). Adam does not tell Jessica about Amy. The next day, Adam and Amy decide to have sex. Jessica never discovers this.

Study 3 Condition 1 (Breakup First). We would like you to imagine Adam and Jessica, who are in an exclusive (monogamous) and committed romantic relationship. Adam is unhappy with the relationship and is planning to break up. Adam meets someone new named Amy, whom he feels very attracted to. Adam and Amy decide to have sex. The next day Adam ends his relationship with Jessica (they talk and he breaks up with her). Adam does not tell Jessica that he had sex with Amy. Jessica never discovers this.

Outcomes (a) How pure/disgusting is this person? (b) How loyal is this person? (c) How much harmed did this person cause? (d) How moral is this person? (e) How moral are the actions of this person?

Sanctity Infidelity Moral Judgment .33*** Loyalty .14* Honesty -.61*** .41*** -.41*** -.55*** (-.08+) Sanctity (95% CI [-.20, -.09]; Sobel z = -5.03, p < .001) Loyalty 95% CI [-.35, -.17]; Sobel z = -6.63, p < .001) Honesty (95% CI [-.17, -.01]; Sobel z = -2.43, p = .015)

Experimental data Casual sex/promiscuity Use vignettes based on Clark & Hatfield (1989)

Method Imagine that you’re talking to your friend, who tells you the following: "You’re not gonna believe what happened to me yesterday! This guy [Justin] from my English class came up to me and said he thought I was really cute, then asked me to go have sex with him! I was so surprised—this never happens! But he was sooooo hot. I said, 'Sure.' We went back to his place and stayed there all night.” “…But I had to say no. It was really random.”

Results *** *** *** *** ns ns

Discussion Sexual ethics – not always about harm… Purity/disgust, loyalty concerns are salient

Future directions Pluralistic perspectives help understand moral concerns & ethics regarding sexual activity Could they help boost sexual satisfaction? Emotional health & wellness?

Thank you!! Questions?