AG Heinzelmann, 19.12.2025 Emotional Framing Mindsets

A paper can be downloaded, which can be read beforehand (see below).

How does emotional emphasis in the framing of moral dilemmas influence our decisions and are we always equally susceptible? I present findings from two experimental studies on trolley-type dilemmas, investigating how emotionally charged language that highlights negative consequences can sway moral judgments toward either utilitarian or deontological responses, depending on which option is emphasized. Crucially, I demonstrate that these "emotion emphasis" effects are moderated by individuals’ goal-pursuit related mindsets. People in a deliberative mindset, characterized by open-minded information processing and a broad attentional focus, are more influenced by emotional emphasis than those in an implemental mindset, who exhibit a goal-oriented and narrowly focused information processing style. Eye-tracking data further reveal that participants in an implemental mindset focus their visual attention more on goal-directed means rather than the broader context, underscoring the attentional mechanism underlying these effects. These results advance our understanding of the interplay between emotion, language, attention, and metacognitive states in moral judgment, with implications for ethical decision-making in personally and societally relevant contexts.

Johannes Doerflinger is a Research Associate at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), where he investigates identity and moral judgment. Since 2017, he has led the moral-psychological research component of a bioethical discourse project on personalized oncology. He studied psychology at the University of Konstanz, where he also completed his Ph.D. on motivational aspects of moral decision-making. His research further extends to risk-taking in games and economics, using playful methods to study judgment and decision-making in the laboratory. Dr Doerflinger has published his work in outlets such as the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and the European Journal of Social Psychology.