Perceiving a moral identity: When storybook illustrations express a moral duality

Abstract

Perceiving a moral identity in a visual image of a fictional character is a recurrent experience in childhood. “This man is evil” or “that woman is good” are common responses of children to certain physical characteristics represented in a specific range of color or with a specific facial expression. In this study, we aimed to determine whether children perceived a moral identity in a series of illustrations of characters in children’s literature. To do so, we created a sample of thirty pictures of different characters; twelve with “evil” profiles, twelve with “good” profiles, and six neutral. The sample was viewed by forty-six children (twenty-one girls and twenty five boys) who expressed their perceptions of the characters’ ethical nature, basing their impressions on their physical appearance alone without any knowledge of a possible plot or narrative link. They expressed their opinions on a seven-level visual analog scale, on which 0 indicated maximum goodness and 7 maximum evil. The results indicated a notable consensus with regard to the perceived ethical profile of the characters; the figure’s appearance provided enough clear information to apportion a moral identity of evil or goodness. This leads us to think about the existence of certain visual codes that allow us to understand questions about the identity of a character and, in this case, his/her moral identity.