By Any Means Necessary: Utilitarian Moral Reasoning Amplifies the Connection Between Obsessive Passion and Ideological Violence
Snook D.W. Bouhelal A. Aidarov B. Zhabagin M. Abuov K. Bélanger J.J.
September/October 2025John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology
2025#35Issue 5
This research delves into the nexus between moral reasoning and ideological passion, examining their combined effect on ideological violence. Building upon the dualistic model of passion, we posited that obsessive passion for an ideology would predict increased ideological violence intentions. We further postulated that utilitarian moral reasoning would amplify the obsessive passion–ideological violence relationship. We used correlational methods to investigate these hypotheses in three distinct samples (Studies 1A–1C): members of the US Democratic Party (N = 209), members of the US Republican Party (N = 114) and police cadets in the Republic of Kazakhstan (N = 340). An experiment further tested these hypotheses with an additional sample of US Democrats (Study 2; N = 280). In Studies 1A–1C, our hypotheses were supported: there was a significant interaction between utilitarian moral reasoning and obsessive passion. Specifically, the relationship between obsessive passion and ideological violence was magnified for individuals with high levels of utilitarian moral reasoning. In Study 2, there was also a significant interaction between utilitarian moral reasoning and obsessive passion, such that being in the obsessive passion condition had a stronger positive effect on ideological violence intentions for participants with greater utilitarian moral reasoning. In all studies, deontological reasoning had no effect on the obsessive passion–ideological violence relationship. Our findings highlight the previously overlooked significance of utilitarian and deontological moral reasoning in the context of ideological violence. This research also introduces novel potential strategies for the prevention of violent extremism.
ideological violence , moral reasoning , motivation , obsessive passion , utilitarianism , violent extremism
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Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, United States
New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Karaganda Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Institute of Diplomacy of the Academy of Public Administration Under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan
Carnegie Mellon University Qatar, Doha, Qatar
Florida Gulf Coast University
New York University Abu Dhabi
Cardiff University
Karaganda Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Institute of Diplomacy of the Academy of Public Administration Under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Carnegie Mellon University Qatar
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