Mrunal Ethics (E2/P2): Moral & Political Attitude: Role of Social media

09/10/15 12:26 pm

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[Ethics] E2/P2: Moral & Political attitude: Types, Factors Affecting,

Role of Social Media, Milgram Experiment
Posted ByMrunalOn 02/10/2015 @ 9:05 pm In Ethics | 15 Comments
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E2/P2: Video Lecture by

Moral Attitude: Meaning
Moral Attitude: Implications of
Role of Social Media in Moral Attitude
Political Attitude and ideologies
Factors affecting Political attitude
Role of Social Media in Political Attitude
Strength of Attitude
Accessibility of Attitude
Milgram Experiment

E2/P1: Video Lecture by Kavan Limbasiya (AIR-198/CSE14)

In the previous part (E2/P1), we understood the meaning, structure and function of attitude. Now well
see the moral and political attitudes, for UPSC General studies paper 4 (GS4)

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/1oUiCAN3IT0

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Mrunal Ethics (E2/P2): Moral & Political Attitude: Role of Social media

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Moral Attitude: Meaning

Not all attitudes are concerned with Morality. E.g. My attitude towards snakes has nothing to do
with morality. But my attitude towards democracy will have moral undertones.
So, Moral attitudes are based on moral convictions of what is Right and what is wrong.
Moral attitudes are stronger than moral beliefs.
Family, society, religion and education play important role in framing those moral convictions.

Moral Attitude: Implications of

Positive Implications
Tied up with strong emotions.
Hence prevents deviant behaviors
among normal folks due to fear of
social Osctricization e.g. child
molestation, incest.
Motivates a person towards
Altruism, volunteerism, social
service.

Negative Implications
Person can use it to justify violence behavior and lunacy
and still society will accept it because moral attitude =
strong emotions. Example
April 1919: A violent mob attacks an English missionary
Marcella Sherwood in Punjab. General Dyer uses this to
justify Jaliawalla Massacre, and hes given heros welcome
in England.
Motivates a person towards riots, genocide and terrorism.
Since moral attitude is tied with strong emotions, people
dont get along with those who dont share their moral
attitude.
Result? Intolerance. Before buying/renting a house,
people will inquire about the caste/religion of the
neighbors.
Religious attitude has trickle down effect. E.g. Hindus vs.
Muslim- if there is negativity towards other persons
religious outlook, then theyll find differences even in
political and economic outlooks. Ultimately itll transform
from religious to communal attitude.

Role of Social Media in Moral Attitude

Through facebook, whatsapp etc. youngsters are exposed to vulgar jokes, MMS, porn every day.
This Adolescent curiosity about sex/porn vs. moral lesson to respect women = cognitive
dissonance.
According to studies, such boys have less empathy towards rape victims, aggressive behavioral
tendencies, increased interest in coercing partners towards unwanted sex and so on.
Bad/careless parenting + indifferent attitude of teachers + Peer pressure + exposure on TV/internet
= A Teenagers moral compass doesnt point to straight north.
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Mrunal Ethics (E2/P2): Moral & Political Attitude: Role of Social media

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Such teenagers feel attracted towards doing wrong things through internet, because internet gives
them following advantages
1.Anonymity
2.Action at
distance

6 ways Internet catalyses wrong behavior

You can remain unknown / untraceable by police.
You dont need to come near the victim.

Through computer scripts, you can circulate same message/photos on thousands of

online groups within few keystrokes.
4.Accessibility Dataplans getting cheap everyday
Text-images will multiply and exist indefinitely. So, even if say an MMS is removed
5.Perpetuity
from one web-portal by court order, itll continue to circulate among others.
3.Automation

1.Hacking

End result = 6 forms of Cyber-violence against Women

Unauthorized access to system to acquire information

2.Impersonation

Creating fake profile of a woman on Facebook to embarrass her.

Creating fake profile on dating site to entrap woman in sex-trade.

3.Surveillance

Tracking a victim through her GPS-mobile, tracking keystrokes.

Planting spy-cams in ladies washrooms.
Recording of MMS in hotel rooms/gardens.

4.Harassment

Through persistence calls, messages, emails

5.Recruitment

Sex-traffickers use whatsapp, chat-room, message boards to communicate

with clients.
Fraudsters post fake job vacancies to lure women into sex-trade.

6.Malicious
distribution

Spurned lover putting Morphed photos or ex-boyfriend posting intimate

photos on social media to embarrass woman.

Cyber-violence against women, is prevalent in all types of countries

First world: pornography, and sites such as Ashley Madison that help married people to cheat on
their partners.
Developing countries: ~2 lakh children are kidnapped and sold every year in China through
online portal (2014 UN Gender report)
Least Developed countries: Currently mobile phones are most commonly used tools for cyber
violence in Nigeria, Kenya such as Viral rape videos/MMS.
Self-Study: Government of India decides to partially lift the ban on pornographic sites.

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Mrunal Ethics (E2/P2): Moral & Political Attitude: Role of Social media

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Political Attitude and ideologies

It defines your like or dislike for a political person, party or ideology.
Ideology

Character
They support basic ideas of liberty, equality and democracy but want reforms in the
Liberal/Moderate system albeit not in extreme/violent manner but through constitutional / legal
means.
Conservative
Want Status quo. They believe changes or reforms will not improve the situation.

Progressive

Progressive: slowly reform the system

Radical: immediately reform the system, e.g. Marx: Confiscate all the
private property immediately.
Nehru was a progressive- he believed state ownership but in a gradual
manner.

Reactionary

Theyre one step behind Conservatives I.e. Conservatives want status quo,
while reactionaries want to go back to previous system.
Example Taliban/ISIS wanting to run nation with literal interpretation of
Sharia/Quran.
Religious organizations involved in politics= theyre usually reactionary in
nature.

Extremist

Extremely unhappy with current system

want complete change to a new system, and justify violence as a mean/tool
to achieve the end/goal. (Recall Teleological ethics and consequentialism in E1/P2)

Pacifist

Theyre also unhappy with current system but reject violence as a tool to
achieve the goal.
Example: Gandhi, Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.

Factors affecting Political attitude

Religion

Religion shapes a persons moral attitude E.g. Christianity defines Marriage as a

union between man and a woman. Therefore, a devout Christian will oppose samesex marriage.
Moral attitude will predict political attitude. E.g. devout Christian more likely to
vote for Republican party in USA, since Republicans are opposed to same-sex
marriage.
Older people more conservative and lean towards political democracy. (Younger
people want economic democracy).
Young people more liberal / radical. Theyre interested in change, because theyll

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Mrunal Ethics (E2/P2): Moral & Political Attitude: Role of Social media

Age

Economic
Status

Residence
Family
Race
Gender
Education

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live to enjoy fruits of those changes.

But there are no hard and fast rules e.g. When Ronald Regan was young, he was a
supporter of Democrats and wanted government intervention in market. But when
he grew old, he leaned towards republican party, and worked for market oriented
reforms.

Poor will align towards communist / socialist ideology. Hell vote for a party
promising to get food, fertilizer and kerosene subsidy.
Rich will align towards right wing- free market, capitalism. Hell vote for a party
promising to remove wealth tax. (recall the Utilitarian function of Attitude in E2/P1).
So, why did Socialism thrive in post-colonial democratic third world countries
from 50s to 80s? Because people were mostly poor.
Local unemployed youth more likely to align with party that promises action against
the migrants or reservation based on region.
Children more likely to espouse the political ideology of their parents.
If a race feels theyre deprived of opportunities because of other races, then more likely
to lean towards a party offering radical solutions against other races. E.g. German
Aryans joining Nazi party.
Females more likely to lean towards liberal ideology.
School syllabus plays an important role. A Chinese may find Indian democracy as
repulsive, because he has been taught that Maos Communist ideology is best.

Conception
about
human
nature

Hobbes said, A person is fundamentally evil. Therefore, a strong-powerful state

is required.
Locke said, Man is a good rational person. Therefore, state should be kept weak,
and men should be made strong by giving more freedom and rights.
Thus, if we believe people have feeling of altruism, well support communist
ideology.

Disposition

Some people hate order and prefer chaos-like Joker in the Dark Knight. Theyll
naturally be in favor of anarchy / radicalism.
If a person is born and raised in a military family, hed be in favor of strong state,
discipline, order, authoritarianism.
Japan is a disciplined society, youll find the same in their building Architecture
and political functioning.

Social
media

The information processed and shared on social media, molds a persons political views.
Social media has played big role in swinging the opinion of youth towards Modi/BJP
during 2014 General elections.

Keep in mind that a persons political attitude is shaped not by any single, but complex combination of
all above factors. E.g. A Poor Muslim youth may be pro-Congress/SP but a Rich Dawoodi Bohra
Muslim may be pro-Modi.

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Mrunal Ethics (E2/P2): Moral & Political Attitude: Role of Social media

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Role of Social Media in Political Attitude

In 2014 general election, ~16 crore voters were 18-24 age group first time voters. In such
demographic composition, social media/internet plays huge role in shaping political attitude.
Social media has helped both Modi and Kejriwal to reach surprise victories in election.
Social media is full of both Hindu vs. Muslim, India vs Pakistan, Shia vs. A teenager exposed to
such groups, is likely to develop extreme radical or reactionary political views.
ISIS is using social media to recruit soldiers for their war.
Muzaffarnagar riots were a result of a viral video about eve teasing. Here moral attitude (about
dignity of women) + Religion + politics created a deadly stew.
Whatsapp has become an App for activism and empowerment- for coordination of political and
violent agitation. During recent Paatidar agitation in Gujarat, mobile internet was banned to
prevent perpetrators from coordinating their attacks/spreading false rumors.
Self-Study: Section 66A and freedom of speech

Strength of Attitude
Government of Maharashtra has imposed beef ban in the states. How do you feel about this?
Strength of attitude
Strong
Neutral
Mild

Result?
Youll go out in dharnaa-Pradarshan for/against meat-ban
Youll not say /do anything thinking this doesnt concern me at personal level.
You may murmur about it to your family members while watching news.

In short, we can predict behavior by measuring strength of the attitude.

Accessibility of Attitude
Conscious
Youre aware. Those C-A-B components immediately light in your brain.
Hidden (unconscious) Youre unaware. C-A-B wont immediately reflect in your thoughts.
Study: Participants were asked will you vote for Obama?
Those who immediately raised hands (conscious), theyll go for voting on the election date.
Those who raise hands after few minutes they did not go to voting.

Milgram Experiment

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Hitler was an evil dictator. But even ordinary Germans participated in atrocities against Jews.
Why?
Prof. Stanley Milgram of Yale University (1961) began experiment to study it.
The participant (teacher) would ask a series of questions to another participant (learner).
The teachers were instructed to shock the learners whenever an incorrect answer was given.
The learner was not a participant at all but actually an actor who would pretend to be hurt by the
shocks and yell out in pain when the button was pushed.
2/3rd of the participants gave shocks upto fatal level (450 volts).
Because behind participant, there was a doctor, hell keep saying go onincrease the voltage,
person will not die.

Moral of the story

1. Lack of accountability, overwrites your conscience: Doctor is the authoritarian figure.
Individual participants conscience is overpowered, when participant thinks its not my
responsibility, Im only following orders.
2. Authoritarian figure can overwrite your conscience: Hitler was a great orator; he could sway
the crowd in his favor just by a speech.
3. Peer-pressure is stronger than obedience: If there are two participants, second participants
refuses to give shock to the subject and storms out of the room, then first participant may also
walk away
4. Thus, Strength wise: peer-pressure (Conformity) > obedience > conscience.
This can explain
Nuremberg
German officers justified their actions saying we were just following orders (obedience).
trials
Massmovements Peer-pressure. Youve to participate, if others are participating. (conformity). Examples
Mass
of Mass-Hysteria- Ganpati drinking milk
hysteria
In the next part (E2/P3) well see the factors responsible for attitude formation, prejudice, discrimination
and how to change behavior of people? And finally (E2/P4), well see the case studies and questions
related to this topic.
Visit Mrunal.org/Ethics for more study material on Ethics.
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