Kyle Fiore Law, PhD
@kyleflaw.com
Postdoctoral Researcher, ASU | Moral Psychologist Traversing Social-Cognition & Ethical Philosophy | Exploring Exceptional Altruism to Foster a Brighter Collective Future | He/Him
kyleflaw.com
kyleflaw.com
Grateful to co-authors David Markowitz, @stysyropoulos.bsky.social, Thomas Mazzuchi, and @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social!
December 13, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Grateful to co-authors David Markowitz, @stysyropoulos.bsky.social, Thomas Mazzuchi, and @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social!
Taken together, obituaries reflect what families choose to highlight in remembrance and, in the aggregate, offer a window into what society values as a life well lived.
Empirical article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Empirical article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
December 13, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Taken together, obituaries reflect what families choose to highlight in remembrance and, in the aggregate, offer a window into what society values as a life well lived.
Empirical article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Empirical article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Cultural scripts around gender and age were also reflected in these memorializations.
Obituaries for men more often referenced achievement and power, while those for women emphasized benevolence and enjoyment of life; older and younger adults were remembered using different value language as well.
Obituaries for men more often referenced achievement and power, while those for women emphasized benevolence and enjoyment of life; older and younger adults were remembered using different value language as well.
December 13, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Cultural scripts around gender and age were also reflected in these memorializations.
Obituaries for men more often referenced achievement and power, while those for women emphasized benevolence and enjoyment of life; older and younger adults were remembered using different value language as well.
Obituaries for men more often referenced achievement and power, while those for women emphasized benevolence and enjoyment of life; older and younger adults were remembered using different value language as well.
Across time, obituaries emphasized tradition and benevolence far more than achievement or power.
But around major disruptions like 9/11 and COVID-19, families tended to foreground different values when remembering loved ones, reflecting subtle shifts in what it means to have lived well.
But around major disruptions like 9/11 and COVID-19, families tended to foreground different values when remembering loved ones, reflecting subtle shifts in what it means to have lived well.
December 13, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Across time, obituaries emphasized tradition and benevolence far more than achievement or power.
But around major disruptions like 9/11 and COVID-19, families tended to foreground different values when remembering loved ones, reflecting subtle shifts in what it means to have lived well.
But around major disruptions like 9/11 and COVID-19, families tended to foreground different values when remembering loved ones, reflecting subtle shifts in what it means to have lived well.
With @jowylie.bsky.social, Gordon Kraft-Todd, @nathanliang.bsky.social, @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social, and @stysyropoulos.bsky.social!
October 3, 2025 at 7:36 AM
With @jowylie.bsky.social, Gordon Kraft-Todd, @nathanliang.bsky.social, @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social, and @stysyropoulos.bsky.social!
Practically, if people expect their own virtue to be judged more favorably, this could (potentially) make them more willing to act publicly, which may support norm setting. Still, the consistent discounting of public relative to private virtue suggests those acts may carry a credibility cost.
October 3, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Practically, if people expect their own virtue to be judged more favorably, this could (potentially) make them more willing to act publicly, which may support norm setting. Still, the consistent discounting of public relative to private virtue suggests those acts may carry a credibility cost.
Yet these asymmetries vanish when judgments are made side by side. Moreover, across studies, public virtue was judged as less morally good than private virtue (i.e., virtue discounting), a difference most consistently accounted for by lower attributions of principled motivation for public actions.
October 3, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Yet these asymmetries vanish when judgments are made side by side. Moreover, across studies, public virtue was judged as less morally good than private virtue (i.e., virtue discounting), a difference most consistently accounted for by lower attributions of principled motivation for public actions.
Across 4 preregistered studies (N=2,511), we find self-serving asymmetries. On average, people expect their own public acts of virtue to appear more principled, less reputation driven, and more trustworthy than people tend to rate identical public actions performed by others.
October 3, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Across 4 preregistered studies (N=2,511), we find self-serving asymmetries. On average, people expect their own public acts of virtue to appear more principled, less reputation driven, and more trustworthy than people tend to rate identical public actions performed by others.
Exactly! Obituaries are usually written positively rather than neutrally. But that’s the point. They reveal what a society values as living well, and how those values differ depending on who is being remembered, and how they shift across time and in response to collectively shared events.
August 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Exactly! Obituaries are usually written positively rather than neutrally. But that’s the point. They reveal what a society values as living well, and how those values differ depending on who is being remembered, and how they shift across time and in response to collectively shared events.
The (stellar) team behind this work: David Markowitz, Thomas Mazzuchi, @stysyropoulos.bsky.social, me, and @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social
August 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
The (stellar) team behind this work: David Markowitz, Thomas Mazzuchi, @stysyropoulos.bsky.social, me, and @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social
Taken together, obituaries show how societies remember the dead by encoding values, responding to cultural upheavals, and reinforcing scripts of age and gender. They are cultural time capsules that reveal what we believe makes a life well lived.
August 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Taken together, obituaries show how societies remember the dead by encoding values, responding to cultural upheavals, and reinforcing scripts of age and gender. They are cultural time capsules that reveal what we believe makes a life well lived.
Reflecting cultural scripts:
Men’s legacies were more dynamic across the lifespan, often tied to achievement & power.
Women’s were steadier, more often tied to benevolence & hedonism.
Older people were remembered more for tradition & conformity than younger people.
Men’s legacies were more dynamic across the lifespan, often tied to achievement & power.
Women’s were steadier, more often tied to benevolence & hedonism.
Older people were remembered more for tradition & conformity than younger people.
August 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reflecting cultural scripts:
Men’s legacies were more dynamic across the lifespan, often tied to achievement & power.
Women’s were steadier, more often tied to benevolence & hedonism.
Older people were remembered more for tradition & conformity than younger people.
Men’s legacies were more dynamic across the lifespan, often tied to achievement & power.
Women’s were steadier, more often tied to benevolence & hedonism.
Older people were remembered more for tradition & conformity than younger people.
Legacies shifted with major events:
• Security declined after 9/11
• Achievement fell after the 2008 crash
• Benevolence collapsed during COVID and has not recovered four years later
• Security declined after 9/11
• Achievement fell after the 2008 crash
• Benevolence collapsed during COVID and has not recovered four years later
August 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Legacies shifted with major events:
• Security declined after 9/11
• Achievement fell after the 2008 crash
• Benevolence collapsed during COVID and has not recovered four years later
• Security declined after 9/11
• Achievement fell after the 2008 crash
• Benevolence collapsed during COVID and has not recovered four years later
The most common values across obituaries were tradition and benevolence.
Values like power and stimulation appeared less often.
Values like power and stimulation appeared less often.
August 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
The most common values across obituaries were tradition and benevolence.
Values like power and stimulation appeared less often.
Values like power and stimulation appeared less often.
The team: @stysyropoulos.bsky.social, Bren O’Connor, @amormino.bsky.social, @drcharlie.bsky.social, Brock Bastian, Abigail Marsh & @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social
August 5, 2025 at 8:29 AM
The team: @stysyropoulos.bsky.social, Bren O’Connor, @amormino.bsky.social, @drcharlie.bsky.social, Brock Bastian, Abigail Marsh & @lianeleeyoung.bsky.social