Moral discourse boosts confidence in moral judgments

The so-called “conciliatory” norm in epistemology and meta-ethics requires that an agent, upon encountering peer disagreement with her judgment, lower confidence about judgment. But whether agents actually abide by this is unclear. Although excessively researched the empirical sciences, possible effects of on have been understudied. Here, we target lacuna, reporting a study measured moral beliefs before after exposure to discourse controversial issue. Our findings indicate participants do not conciliatory norm. Neither they conform rival “steadfast” demands their remain same. Instead, seems boost confidence. Interestingly, also find for factual beliefs, correlation between extremity views One explanation our when engaging become more extreme opinions, which leads them confident them, or vice versa: turn extreme. work provides initial evidence former mechanism, further research needed better understanding discourse.