Abstract:  Moral judgment is critical for social cooperation. Research on moral judgment has been rapidly growing in the last 20 years. Empirical evidence has been accumulating to challenge the assumptions underlying the Social Intuitionist Model and Dual-process Model, which are the dominant models of moral judgment. Recently, construal level theory (CLT) has provided a new perspective for research on moral judgment. This article reviewed CLT-based research on moral judgment by classifying studies into two different categories, namely, moral judgment on moral dilemmas and moral judgment on moral and immoral actions. Evidence from the former arrived at a consistent conclusion, whereas that from the latter is inconclusive. We proposed that construal levels may affect moral judgment through turning people’s attention to different principles. Future research should focus on cross-cultural comparisons and exploring the mechanism underlying the relationship between CLT and moral judgment to clarify the controversy and provide additional empirical evidence.

Key words:  , moral judgment, construal level theory, moral dilemma, moral transgression, moral action