People's moral values change with the seasons

A very interesting new study has revealed that there are regular seasonal shifts in people’s moral values.

The finding has potential implications for politics, law, business and health—including the timing of elections, business decisions and court cases, as well as public response to a health crisis.

The research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) analyzed survey responses from more than 230,000 people in the U.S. over 10 years and revealed that people’s embrace of certain moral values fluctuates depending on the time of year. The seasonal patterns also emerged in smaller data samples from Canada and Australia.

What the researchers say: “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,” said the lead author. “Moral values are a fundamental part of how people make decisions and form judgments, so we think this finding might just be the tip of the iceberg in that it has implications for all sorts of other downstream effects.”

Since 2009, a website established by social psychology researchers has been collecting survey data that measures participants’ endorsement of five moral values:

• Loyalty: Valuing devotion to one’s group and maintaining strong group bonds.

• Authority: Respecting and following leadership and established rules.

• Purity: Emphasizing cleanliness, sanctity and upholding tradition.

• Care: Prioritizing kindness and preventing harm to others.

• Fairness: Ensuring equal treatment for everyone.

Loyalty, authority and purity are referred to by researchers as “binding” values because they encourage conformity to group norms. They also align closely with modern political conservatism. Care and fairness may be considered more liberal values, with their focus on individual rights and welfare. All have been shown by research to guide people’s judgments about right and wrong.

The researchers found that respondents endorsed the “binding” values more strongly in spring and fall, but not as much in summer and winter—a pattern that was remarkably consistent over 10 years.

They also found evidence that the summer decrease in endorsement of binding moral values was more pronounced in areas with more extreme seasonal climate differences.

The study observed a potential link between these seasonal moral shifts and levels of anxiety, using large-scale data on seasonal anxiety.

What the researchers say: “We noticed that anxiety levels peak in the spring and autumn, which coincides with the periods when people endorse binding values more strongly,” the lead author told us. “This correlation suggests that higher anxiety may drive people to seek comfort in the group norms and traditions upheld by binding values.”

The findings have wide-reaching implications, with potential examples including:

• Elections: The timing of elections could have an impact on outcomes, as shifts in moral values influence political opinions and behaviors.

• Legal judgments: The timing of trials and legal decisions could be influenced by seasonal variations in moral values, because those who endorse “binding” values tend to be more punitive of those who commit crimes and violate social norms.

• Disease response: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which people followed social distancing guidelines and were vaccinated was influenced by their moral values. Knowing these values change with the seasons could help tailor more effective health campaigns.

• Intergroup prejudice: Seasonal changes in moral values might affect how people view outsiders or those who don’t conform to group norms.

So, what? Obviously, this information is important in regard to hiring, product launches and other business decisions.

Though not mentioned by the researchers’ other studies have shown that these “moral values” are genetically based. We are, in the words of the Victorian librettist W.S. Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan), born “either a little liberal or else a little conservative.”

These genetic differences influence who we vote for, what goods we buy—even in a supermarket (since conservatives are far more likely to buy branded goods and liberals store-brand items)—and whether we will be an innovator or not.

That the expression of these genes is affected by the season is a fascinating finding.