Understanding the Effect of Moral Efficacy and Moral Identity on Moral Imagination

Abstract

In two studies, we investigate how moral imagination – the ability to generate multiple alternative ethical courses of action in the face of complex ethical dilemmas – is enhanced or inhibited by moral efficacy. Specifically, we examine how moral efficacy, derived from internal (self-efficacy) and external (means efficacy) sources, influences moral imagination, and consider whether the individuals’ moral identity moderates the moral efficacy-moral imagination relationship. Findings show that in response to an ethical dilemma, individuals with high self-efficacy generated a greater number of initial ethical courses of action than individuals with low self-efficacy, and individuals with higher..