People's moral values literally change with the season

Do you ever feel more inclined towards group loyalty and conformity during certain times of the year? There’s a surprising reason for that. Turns out our moral values could potentially be shifting with the seasons, and researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are here to shed light on how and why that happens.

The study’s first author, Ian Hohm, a doctoral student in UBC’s department of psychology, led this fascinating exploration into the fluctuating morals of humans.

Moral values and seasons

“People’s endorsement of moral values that promote group cohesion and conformity is stronger in the spring and fall than it is in the summer and winter,” noted Hohm.

Understanding this seasonal ebb and flow of morality has implications for politics, law, health, and many more aspects of our lives.

The researchers analyzed responses from over 230,000 people in the U.S., spanning a decade. And it wasn’t just confined to the American population – smaller data samples from Canada and Australia exhibited the same seasonal patterns.

Shift in five key moral values

The researchers investigated what are considered five central moral values. These include loyalty, authority, and purity, known as “binding values” because they encourage conformity to group norms. On the other side, care and fairness are values that focus on individual rights and welfare.

What the team discovered was a consistent pattern over ten years. These ‘binding’ values, somehow connected to political conservatism, were more pronounced in spring and fall. However, during summer and winter, they saw a drop in respondents’ endorsement.

Interestingly, where the seasonal climate differences were more extreme, the summer decrease in endorsement of these “binding” values was noticeably more prominent. And this isn’t just about geographical locations. Even within the same place, people’s values can vary depending on how extreme the weather is.

Anxiety as a potential driver

Adding another layer to this intriguing find, the study suggested a potential link between these seasonal moral shifts and levels of anxiety.

Using large-scale data on seasonal anxiety provided by Dr. Brian O’Shea, a co-author of the paper and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham, the team found parallels worth noting.

“We noticed that anxiety levels peak in the spring and autumn, which coincides with the periods when people endorse binding values more strongly,” said Dr. Mark Schaller, the study’s senior author and a professor of psychology at UBC.

This connection lays groundwork for the hypothesis that higher levels of anxiety might compel people to seek comfort in the group norms and traditions upheld by the binding values.

Implications running wide and deep

The potential implications of these findings cover a vast territory. Consider elections; the seasonality of moral values could influence outcomes. The same goes for legal judgments, as those upholding ‘binding’ values are generally more punitive of crime and violation of societal norms.

Health responses, interspersed with moral values, are also influenced. Our recent experience with COVID-19 underscores how adherence to guidelines like social distancing and vaccination aligns with people’s moral compass. A seasonal understanding of these values could help design more impactful health campaigns.

Last but not least, these findings hint at how seasonal variations in moral values might shape our perceptions of those who differ from us or resist conforming to societal norms.

The research team is now poised to delve deeper into these connections between anxiety and moral values. The goal is to investigate how these seasonal patterns influence prejudices and legal judgments.

In the end, what this research unearths might be far more important than we initially thought. It doesn’t just give us a novel perspective. It challenges us to be aware of our unconscious biases, question our behavior and decisions, and ultimately strive for better understanding and empathy in our everyday lives.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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