"we investigate whether moral evaluations vary depending on the relationship between the actor and the victim. Unlike previous research that primarily adopts a third-party perspective, this study uses a first-person approach, focusing on judgments made by individuals directly involved in the moral interaction. Three empirical studies were conducted: Study 1 tests the influence of social relationships on moral judgment using Chinese participants; Study 2 explores how moral judgments differ across various moral domains in relational contexts; and Study 3 compares Chinese and American participants to assess cross-cultural differences in the impact of social relationships on moral evaluation. Across all three studies, the results consistently show that social relationships significantly affect moral judgment, supporting the view that moral evaluations are shaped not only by the nature of the act but also by the relational context in which it occurs."

Study 1: "Post hoc comparisons using Tukey’s HSD test revealed that moral transgressions involving parents were perceived as the least immoral, whereas those involving a salesperson were judged as the most immoral. The difference between these two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001; 95% CI = [−0.97, −0.30]). No significant differences were found among the other relational contexts."

Study 2: "There was an interaction between social context and moral foundation (F(12, 2424) = 33.00; p < 0.001; partial η 2 = 0.14). The results also showed a main effect for the relational context. Post hoc comparisons using Tukey’s HSD test indicated that moral transgressions involving parents were perceived as the least immoral, whereas those involving a superior were judged as the most immoral. The difference between these two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001; 95% CI = [−0.34, −0.13]), while no significant differences were found among the other relational contexts."

Study 3: "results from the interaction analysis indicated a significant interaction effect between social relationships and culture (F(3, 1716) = 51.88; p < 0.001; partial η 2 = 0.08). Furthermore, both the main effect of social relationships and the main effect of culture reached statistical significance. To further examine the main effect of social relationships, a post hoc analysis using Tukey’s HSD test was conducted. The findings indicated that moral transgressions involving parents were perceived as the least immoral, whereas those involving a salesperson were judged as the most immoral. The difference between these two relational contexts was statistically significant (p < 0.001; 95% CI [−0.34, −0.13]), while no significant differences were observed among the remaining relational categories."