Understanding how perspective-taking influences moral consideration—and whether psychological distance weakens this effect—could provide valuable insights into human empathy, ethics, and advocacy strategies. This experimental study explores whether imagining another being's perspective increases moral concern and how factors like social, species, or temporal distance impact this relationship.

The Core Idea

One way to investigate this relationship is through a controlled experiment where participants engage in perspective-taking exercises involving different "target beings," such as fellow humans, animals, or even artificial intelligences. The study would measure whether adopting another's viewpoint leads to greater moral concern (e.g., willingness to help, perceived moral worth) and whether this effect diminishes when the target feels psychologically distant.

Key components of the study could include:

• Perspective-taking tasks: Writing from another's viewpoint or imagining their daily experiences.
• Moral consideration measures: Behavioral choices (e.g., donating resources) and self-reported attitudes.
• Psychological distance variations: Testing different levels of social, species, or temporal separation.

Potential Applications

If successful, this research could help refine strategies for:

• Advocacy groups: Improving campaigns for animal rights, refugee support, or AI ethics.
• Policy interventions: Designing more effective empathy-building programs.
• Cross-cultural research: Understanding how moral consideration varies across societies.

Execution Considerations

A pilot study could test basic assumptions, such as whether perspective-taking reliably increases moral concern for humans versus animals. A larger follow-up experiment might then examine how psychological distance moderates this effect. To ensure robust findings, the study could incorporate both behavioral and self-report measures while minimizing demand effects through subtle experimental designs.

While primarily academic in nature, this research could indirectly benefit organizations seeking evidence-based ways to expand moral concern—whether for humans, animals, or future technologies.