Moral values ​​may change with the seasons, study suggests

Many of us like to think that our moral values ​​are stable. We imagine that each of us has a moral compass inside us that reliably points north—toward our sense of right and wrong.

But according to A new study Published on PNASOur deepest moral values ​​are not some fixed point. They fluctuate from spring to summer to fall to winter.

We already know that changing seasons can affect our moods (I’m talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder). Research also shows that changing seasons can affect everything from Our focus on memoryarrive Color Preference arrive Crime Rate.But what about our morals?

“This was absolutely surprising to me,” said lead author Ian Holm A professor at the University of British Columbia told me in an interview.

Holm said he does not think morality will change, “because morality is not a behavior or a fleeting emotion. Morality is the fundamental way people judge what is good and what is bad, right and wrong.”

Yet when he and his co-authors analyzed survey responses from more than 230,000 Americans over a decade, they found that people espoused certain values ​​— purity, loyalty and respect for authority — more strongly in the spring and fall than in the summer and winter.

Psychologists call these “binding values” because they tend to promote social cohesion. However, they are a double-edged sword: Their benefit is that they increase cooperation among in-group members, but they may also increase prejudice against out-groups. (The study authors also investigated caring and fairness, sometimes called “individualizing values,” but found no consistent seasonal patterns among them.)

The results raise some big questions. First, why are people more likely to accept restrained values ​​in the spring and fall? Second, given that restrained values ​​are more likely to be accepted in the fall and spring, why are people more likely to accept restrained values ​​in the fall? Associated with political conservatismand what impact does this have on how we manage society, including major cases and elections?

Another phenomenon peaks in the spring and fall: self-reported anxiety.

The study authors noticed this trend when they analyzed more than 90,000 questionnaires. They speculate that higher levels of anxiety in the spring and fall prompt people to place more emphasis on binding values ​​and their manifestations, such as close-knit social groups and long-standing traditions. These things make us feel safe and secure — exactly what you want when you’re anxious.

The authors also analyzed survey data from Canada and Australia and found that people also more strongly espouse restraining values ​​in the spring and fall. Endorsement of these values ​​drops in the summer—and by looking at respondents’ postal codes, the authors found that this drop was particularly pronounced in areas where the weather changes dramatically from one season to the next. But interestingly, the drop in the winter had nothing to do with the weather itself.

“So the summer effect could be some kind of sunshine effect — you know, your anxiety decreases because you have nice weather outside,” Holm said. Whether it’s because we have more daylight, more time in nature, more exercise or more socialization, many of us notice an improvement in mood during the summer.

“But we think the winter effect is related to certain cultural practices, such as changes in people’s activities and motivations during the holiday season.” In other words, you may be less anxious in December because you have time off from work or school and you can hang out with family and friends.

Of course, this is not the case for everyone, and those who do see change do not see their moral values ​​change dramatically with the changing of seasons.

“On an individual level, the effect on people’s moral values ​​is very small,” Holm told me. “If you only look at individuals, the effect probably doesn’t explain a lot. But when it comes to the population as a whole, when everyone is more aligned with these values, it could have a significant impact.”

The study suggests that these findings could have broad societal implications.

We know conservative Conservatives are more supportive of restraining values ​​than liberals. So one possible implication is that if we hold elections at a time when people are more supportive of restraining values, this could make swing voters more inclined to choose conservative candidates than they would otherwise. “The timing of political elections (e.g., whether they are scheduled in the summer or fall) may have some subtle effects on election outcomes,” the study argues.

Research also shows that people who more strongly endorse restrictive values ​​tend to More severe attitudes toward those who violate norms. So it is conceivable that there might be some seasonal variation in legal decision-making.

Finally, because binding moral values ​​emphasize group cohesion, there may also be seasonal variations in prejudice against groups that are seen as outsiders, such as immigrants, racial minorities, or LGBTQ people. (The study’s authors have begun investigating this question, and while their research is still ongoing, Holm told me that “prejudice does seem to increase during the same periods when people are more likely to endorse binding values.”)

The study has significant limitations. First, it did not analyze a nationally representative sample of the population, but rather a self-selected group who chose to answer survey questions online. Also, it was not a longitudinal study—different people answered the survey at different times. By assessing the values ​​endorsed by the same person in different seasons, we could get a more complete picture.

There’s another problem: These findings don’t apply to all countries. While the authors found similar seasonal cycles in moral values ​​in the United States, Canada and Australia, they didn’t find them in the United Kingdom, and they don’t know why.

However, the research challenges the common view that each person’s values ​​are stable.

“The idea that people’s moral values ​​change with the seasons is consistent with a growing body of research that highlights the extent to which moral values ​​— often thought to be fixed and unchanging — can change based on subtle or seemingly mundane features of people’s environments,” he said. Daniel Yudkina social psychologist who was not involved in the new research.

Sorry for my moral compass issues, but here’s the thing: there is no moral North Pole. Your sense of right and wrong may not be a static point, but may change with the seasons – literally.

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