A variance component analysis of the moral circle

People’s treatment of others—humans, animals, or other targets—often depends on whether they think the entity is worthy of moral consideration. Recent work has begun to examine which factors determine whether an entity is included in people’s moral circle. Here, we rely on multilevel modeling to map the variance components of the moral circle. We examine how much variance in moral concern is explained by who is being judged (i.e., between-target differences), by who is making the judgment (i.e., between-judge differences), and by their interaction. Two studies with participants from the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia (N = 836) show that all three components explain substantial amounts of variance in judgments of moral concern. Few cross-country differences emerged. Thus, to accurately predict when people grant moral standing to a target, characteristics of the target, characteristics of the judge, and their interaction need to be considered.