In two pre-registered studies, we leveraged recent advances to disposition theory to examine whether character judgments are relative. We used a Pilot Study to develop a moral continuum of behaviors for a hypothetical television series. We referenced our established moral continuum to create behavioral sequences that represented two characters descending into immorality. We manipulated whether one or both characters were present in the narrative. The simultaneous presence of both characters polarized participants’ moral evaluations of character behavior, categorization of the characters as heroic/villainous, and character liking. Our findings substantiate the systematic effects that character interdependence has on disposition formation. An improved understanding of narrative context can specify when between- and within-character comparisons occur and what effects character interdependence has on disposition theory’s processes. We discuss how narrative schemas, character schemas, and character networks can serve as the elements for explicating the role of narrative context in disposition theory.

中文翻译：

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观众是否会以相对论的方式判断人物的道德？相互依赖如何影响对人物时间道德血统的感知

在两项预先注册的研究中，我们利用处置理论的最新进展来检验性格判断是否是相对的。我们使用一项试点研究来为假设的电视连续剧开发行为的道德连续统一体。我们参考了我们建立的道德连续体来创建行为序列，这些行为序列代表了两个堕入不道德的角色。我们操纵了叙事中是否出现了一个或两个角色。两个角色的同时出现使参与者对角色行为的道德评价、对角色英雄/邪恶的分类以及对角色的喜好产生了两极分化。我们的研究结果证实了性格相互依赖对性格形成的系统性影响。对叙事语境的更好理解可以明确何时发生人物之间和人物内的比较，以及人物相互依存对性格理论过程的影响。我们讨论了叙事图式、角色图式和角色网络如何作为解释叙事语境在处置理论中的作用的要素。