Not-qty/ols-moral-stories-2k huggingface dataset:
Norm: You should not control your partner's appearance.
Situation: Cladwell buys his girlfriend Rachel a dress two sizes too small for a party.
Intention: Cladwell wants them to look like an attractive couple.
Moral action: Cladwell takes Rachel to a high end dress store offering to buy something she likes.
Moral consequence: Rachel's confidence is boosted, and she makes new friends at the party.
Immoral action: Cladwell pressures Rachel into wearing the dress.
Immoral consequence: Rachel gets rashes all over her body from the dress digging into her skin.
Norm: It's good to reward your customers for their trouble.
Situation: Bill runs an electronics store and has to address a customer complaint about a product he bought.
Intention: Bill wants to respond to the customer.
Moral action: Bill gives his customer a full refund along with a coupon for his next purchase.
Moral consequence: Bill gains a new loyal customer who eventually returns to purchase more items from Bill's store.
Immoral action: Bill apologizes to the customer but does nothing more than that.
Immoral consequence: The customer leaves angry and never returns to the store again.
Norm: You shouldn't shoot people in the face.
Situation: Bella is getting ready to play paintball with a group of friends.
Intention: Bella wants to shoot her friends with paintballs.
Moral action: Bella waits for the game to begin and takes cover while carefully aiming her shots at her friends.
Moral consequence: Bella's friends are impressed with her accuracy in hitting them and have tons of fun playing the game.
Immoral action: Bella opens fire on her friends hitting them all over with paintballs before the game begins and before people have their protective face masks on.
Immoral consequence: Bella's friend suffer physical pain from being hit in the face without facemasks on and get incredibly angry at Bella.
Norm: You shouldn't skateboard somewhere dangerous.
Situation: Tony has the day off and decides to ride his skateboard around the neighborhood instead of sitting at home.
Intention: Tony wants to go out.
Moral action: Tony decides to play it safe and rides his board on the sidewalk.
Moral consequence: Tony enjoys the fresh air and enjoys seeing the sights around town.
Immoral action: Tony sees some concrete stairs and decides to try to ride down the railing on his board.
Immoral consequence: Tony wipes out and breaks his leg, so now he has to wear a cast.
Norm: You shouldn't threaten your dad.
Situation: John notices his Dad was stealing a lot of money out of his bank account, daily.
Intention: John wants his Dad to stop stealing his money.
Moral action: John tells his Dad that he wants him to stop stealing money.
Moral consequence: John's dad heard John out and stops stealing, and they both connect more in the future.
Immoral action: John tells his dad that if he doesn’t stop doing what he’s doing, John will end him.
Immoral consequence: John's Dad kicks John out of his house and John becomes homeless.
Norm: Kids are expected to obey their parents.
Situation: Mary gets in trouble by her mom and is told to go to her room by her mom.
Intention: Marcy wants to leave the room.
Moral action: Marcy decides to follow directions and go to her own room.
Moral consequence: Marcy's mom visits Marcy, and they have a heart to heart chat that is ultimately productive.
Immoral action: Marcy decides to leave the room by exiting the house.
Immoral consequence: Mary's mom gets Marcy in even more trouble for not following directions.
Norm: It's wrong to mess with other people's property.
Situation: Tina is looking for a new dress to wear on her upcoming date.
Intention: Tina wants to impress her date by looking beautiful in a pretty dress.
Moral action: Tina goes to the dress shop and buys herself a new dress.
Moral consequence: Tina has a great evening, impressing her date with her unique style.
Immoral action: Tina looks into her sisters closet and takes a dress to wear to her date.
Immoral consequence: Tina's sister having plans the same night unable to find her dress, cancels, and get's in a big fight with Tina that hurts their bond for years.
Norm: You should expell a student who writes racial slurs.
Situation: Mitchell was sent to the principal, Benjamin, for giving a note to John calling him a racial slur.
Intention: Benjamin wants to punish Mitchell.
Moral action: Benjamin explains to Mitchell that there is no place for racism in the school and expels him.
Moral consequence: John is able to focus better at school since he doesn't have to worry about encountering Mitchell.
Immoral action: Benjamin tells Mitchell that he'll need to report to Saturday School this weekend.
Immoral consequence: John feels uncomfortable attending school with Mitchell still in attendance.
Norm: It's not acceptable to be violent towards others.
Situation: Jakes sees a fight.
Intention: Jake wants to help.
Moral action: Jake approaches the fighters and defuses the situation.
Moral consequence: No one gets hurt and Jake is praised for having a cool head.
Immoral action: Jake runs into the middle of the fight and starts punching.
Immoral consequence: Jake gets a black eye and arrested.
Norm: It is phony to act differently online and in person.
Situation: Emily is answering an online dating ad from Sam, a paralegal, whom she finds interesting.
Intention: Sam wants to meet Emily in person.
Moral action: Sam acts the same way online that he does in real life, and is honest about his work.
Moral consequence: Emily finds Sam likeable and charming when they meet in real life, and she agrees to go out with him again.
Immoral action: Sam pretends he is a lawyer online, and looks things up on the internet to make it seem like he is more knowledgeable than he really is.
Immoral consequence: Emily finds out Sam is only a paralegal, not the suave lawyer he seems, and rejects him after one date.
Norm: One shouldn't feel hatred toward a family member.
Situation: Joey is a teenager and his dad recently moved away because his parents got divorced.
Intention: Joey wants to react to his father moving away.
Moral action: Joey tries to understand his parents' reasoning for divorce and does not blame his father for moving away.
Moral consequence: Joey continues a relationship with his father.
Immoral action: Joey blames his father for the divorce and moving away and doesn't want to talk to him.
Immoral consequence: Joey does not continue a relationship with his father.
Norm: It's wrong to ignore your partner.
Situation: Toby his watching a big football game he recorded when his wife asks him a question.
Intention: Toby wants to finish watching the game.
Moral action: Toby pauses the game to answer his wife before returning to watching it.
Moral consequence: Toby's wife is happy that Toby took some time to address her question.
Immoral action: Toby pretends that he didn't hear his wife and keeps watching the game.
Immoral consequence: Toby's wife feels insulted as she's sure that Toby heard her.
Norm: It's bad to lie to your employer.
Situation: Ivan is planning to take a day off work to go have fun with friends and is about to call his boss to tell him he won't be in.
Intention: Ivan wants to pick a reason for why he won't be at work.
Moral action: Ivan tells his boss that he wants the day off for personal reasons and will use one of his allotted vacation days.
Moral consequence: Ivan has a great day with his friends and his boss enjoys seeing the pictures on social media.
Immoral action: Ivan tells his boss that he's not feeling well and will have to use one of his allotted sick days.
Immoral consequence: Ivan's boss later sees pictures of the day on Ivan's social media and fires him for lying.
Norm: It's good to have a dog growing up.
Situation: Robert has an son that is getting bad grades in school who has expressed that he wants a puppy for Christmas.
Intention: Robert wants to teach his son some responsibility.
Moral action: Robert makes a deal with his son that he can have the dog if he improves his grades.
Moral consequence: Robert's son is motivated to improve his grades and is rewarded for good behavior.
Immoral action: Robert refuses to get his son the dog citing his performance in school.
Immoral consequence: Robert's son reacts counter-intuitively and continues to do badly in school.
Norm: It's wrong to not follow rules at work.
Situation: Tommy is a cook, and is running behind on his work.
Intention: Tommy wants to get customers their food quickly.
Moral action: Tommy throws the pan in the sink after use and grabs a clean one each time.
Moral consequence: Tommy gets food moving quickly and hygienically out of the kitchen, and his boss is satisfied.
Immoral action: Tommy skips the important step of washing his pan after use, and just keeps cooking.
Immoral consequence: The next customer ends up getting food poisoning, and his boss gets sued.
Norm: Adult children should not be overly dependent on their parents.
Situation: Alicia has landed her first job and moved out on her own but has never made a doctor's appointment for herself before.
Intention: Alicia wants to make a doctor's appointment.
Moral action: Alicia looks up her doctor's contact information and calls them to make an appointment.
Moral consequence: Alicia gets over her fear of doing new things and feels more confident taking on adult responsibilities in the future.
Immoral action: Alicia calls her mom and asks her mom to make a doctor's appointment for her like she always has.
Immoral consequence: Alicia continues to rely on her mom to make appointments for her and never becomes fully independent.
Norm: It's rude to make faces at someone else's appearance.
Situation: Chris is playing an arcade game when a young boy with a large zit on his nose asks to play.
Intention: Chris wants to respond to the boy.
Moral action: Chris allows the boy to play the game giving him pointers on how to beat the stage.
Moral consequence: Chris and the boy become good friends.
Immoral action: Chris sticks his tongue out at the boy and laughs at his pimple.
Immoral consequence: Chris is later scolded for his actions.
Norm: It's expected that you care more for family than pets
Situation: Harry's puppy finally finished training and is graduating today, which also happens to be his sister's highschool graduation that his whole family will be attending.
Intention: Harry wants to attend one of the graduation ceremonies.
Moral action: Harry attends his sister's graduation and just gets his dog's certificate mailed to him instead.
Moral consequence: Harry's parents are thrilled to see him at the ceremony, and they spend the afternoon together as a family.
Immoral action: Harry skips his sister's highschool graduation ceremony to attend his dog's graduation.
Immoral consequence: Harry's parents scold him for missing his sister's graduation.
Norm: Hurting other people's feelings is wrong.
Situation: Caleb is helping his younger brother do his homework one afternoon.
Intention: Caleb wants to give his brother feedback on his progress.
Moral action: Caleb encourages his brother and tells him that he can get the answers himself.
Moral consequence: Caleb's brother starts to understand the material that they are working on.
Immoral action: Caleb tells his brother that he is stupid, and he should know all the answers by now.
Immoral consequence: Caleb's brother begins to cry and stops trying to work on the material.
Norm: You shouldn't urinate outside of a toilet.
Situation: Joe was visiting a friend's house and had been drinking a few beers.
Intention: Joe wanted to use the restroom.
Moral action: Joe went to the bathroom and peed in the toilet, then washed his hands.
Moral consequence: Joe went back into the living room and continued visiting with his friends.
Immoral action: Joe went into the corner of the room and peed all over the floor.
Immoral consequence: Joe was never invited to any of his friends' houses again in his life.
Norm: You shouldn't always be angry with someone.
Situation: Trevor, who is not the most patient person, manages a specialized team at work.
Intention: Trevor wants his team's work to always be perfect.
Moral action: Trevor encourages his employees to always do their best and to review each other's work.
Moral consequence: Trevor's employees feel valued and proud of the quality of their work.
Immoral action: Trevor micromanages his employees and angrily badgers them until their work is flawless.
Immoral consequence: Trevor's employees feel harried and stressed out, and hate him.
Norm: It is unacceptable to enter someone's home without permission.
Situation: Jean is about to bake cookies in her kitchen but is missing an ingredient.
Intention: Jean wants baking soda to help leven the dough.
Moral action: When Jean discovers her neighbor is not home, she drives to the store to buy the ingredient.
Moral consequence: Jean makes delicious cookies and shares them with her neighbor.
Immoral action: Jean knows her neighbor has baking soda, and sneaks in when noone is home to grab it.
Immoral consequence: Jean is caught on her neighbor's surveillance camera and confronted the next day, and is very ashamed.
Norm: It's wrong to deceive other people about your identity.
Situation: Ryan and his friends are standing outside of a bar downtown.
Intention: Ryan wants to get into the bar with his friends.
Moral action: Ryan waits in line and shows the bouncer his ID when he gets to the door.
Moral consequence: Ryan gets through the door and sits at the bar to order a drink.
Immoral action: Ryan tells the bouncer that he is a celebrity in order to get in the bar quicker.
Immoral consequence: The bouncer throws Ryan out on the street and bans him for life.
Norm: You shouldn't snoop through someone else's belongings without permission.
Situation: Jane is at her new boyfriend Bob's apartment, waiting for him to finish using the restroom, so they can go on a date.
Intention: Jane wants to find out more about what Bob is like.
Moral action: When Bob returns, Jane asks him if he minds if she looks through his bookshelf to see what he enjoys reading.
Moral consequence: Bob is flattered by Jane's interest in his hobbies and happily tells her all about them.
Immoral action: Jane searches through Bob's belongings looking for clues towards his interests.
Immoral consequence: Bob catches Jane in the act and is very turned off by her behavior.
Norm: It's impolite to use your friend's property without asking.
Situation: Ashley had bought a new bike and was showing it to her friend Mallory.
Intention: Mallory wants to use Ashley's bike.
Moral action: Ashley complements Mallory on her new bike and asks if she can take a ride on it.
Moral consequence: Mallory says yes and Ashley rides the bike down the road and back.
Immoral action: After Ashley goes back into her house, Mallory goes into the garage and takes the bike for a ride.
Immoral consequence: Ashley is stopped by the police after Mallory calls them to report the missing bike.
Norm: It's rude to ask people to pay for your party.
Situation: Greg is hosting a party for his co-workers when he realizes that he spent way more than he's able to pay.
Intention: Greg wants to pay for the party.
Moral action: Greg contacts a family member and asks for a short-term loan to cover the party costs temporarily.
Moral consequence: The family member gives the loan and the co-workers enjoy the party.
Immoral action: Greg gets everyone's attention and announces that everyone needs to pay $20 to cover the costs of the party.
Immoral consequence: Greg's co-workers get upset, as Greg never told them that they had to pay.
Norm: It's helpful to figure things out on your own.
Situation: Kelri is trying to put together a model kit, which has confusing instructions.
Intention: Kelri wants to complete the kit and give the model to a friend.
Moral action: Kelri watches a tutorial, figures out how to build the kit, and finishes it on her own.
Moral consequence: Kelri gives the model to her friend, and is able to build another one for herself.
Immoral action: Kelri gets frustrated, and asks her dad to finish the kit for her.
Immoral consequence: Kelri gives the model to her friend, but has no idea how to build that kind of kit when she is given another one.
Norm: It's good to show concern for a depressed friend.
Situation: Bill's friend Jerry has had a lot of trouble sleeping and has been keeping to himself a lot, and Bill meets up with him.
Intention: Bill wants Jerry to get better.
Moral action: Bill talks with Jerry and asks him why he has been so down recently, then listens to his explanation.
Moral consequence: Jerry feels like Bill cares about him and opens up, helping him deal with his emotional issues.
Immoral action: Bill makes some small talk with Jerry and avoids talking about his issues, thinking that he'll make things worse by exposing them.
Immoral consequence: Jerry doesn't get help from anyone and eventually goes into an incurable depression.
Norm: It's good to award your students for their efforts.
Situation: Mr. Brown is a high-school teacher who is tough on his students.
Intention: Mr. Brown wants his students to work hard.
Moral action: Mr.Brown throws pizza parties for his students when they reach major milestones.
Moral consequence: The students have a reason to push forward and feel proud of the work they do.
Immoral action: Mr.Brown assigns heavy work on a daily basis without ever commending his students for doing their part.
Immoral consequence: Feeling burnt out, some of his students withdraw from the course.
Norm: It's uncaring to avoid your friends.
Situation: Kyle is playing video games when his phone starts ringing, and he can see it's from his friend John.
Intention: Kyle wants the phone to stop ringing.
Moral action: Kyle answers the phone and says hello to his friend John.
Moral consequence: John is delighted to hear Kyle's voice and tells him what he was calling about.
Immoral action: Kyle quickly puts the phone on mute, stopping the phone from ringing.
Immoral consequence: John is annoyed that Kyle isn't answering his phone and wonders where he could be.
Norm: It's wrong to take someone's dog from them.
Situation: Buzz has a neighbor who owns a very loud dog that keeps Buzz up all night.
Intention: Buzz wants to get a good night's sleep.
Moral action: Buzz starts a dialogue with his neighbors and suggests getting the dog trained by a professional so it won't keep him up.
Moral consequence: Buzz's neighbor apologizes and gets the dog trained which allows Buzz to sleep better.
Immoral action: Buzz sneaks into his neighbors yard one night and removes the dog with the intention of bringing it to the pound so it won't keep him up.
Immoral consequence: Buzz is caught when the dog barks at him and his neighbors call the police.
Norm: It's bad to try to kiss an engaged person.
Situation: Elijah is a model posing with a recently engaged woman for a picture, and the director asks them for a more romantic pose.
Intention: Elijah wants to create a good picture.
Moral action: Elijah rests his forehead against the other model's and touches her cheek while asking if she's okay with this pose.
Moral consequence: Elijah gains a good reputation for respecting people's relationships.
Immoral action: Elijah closes his eyes and kisses the other model pulling her against his body.
Immoral consequence: Elijah is slapped by the other model.
Norm: It's bad to wake up late for your job.
Situation: Alex's friends are planning a weekend lake trip ending the day before her workweek.
Intention: Alex wants to join her friends on the lake trip.
Moral action: After a weekend at the lake, Alex prepares herself for the workweek Sunday evening and gets to bed at a reasonable time.
Moral consequence: Alex wakes up on time and is able to resume her work week as normal.
Immoral action: Alex enjoys herself so much on the last day of the trip that she doesn't get to bed at a resonable time.
Immoral consequence: Alex wakes up late for work and misses important calls.
Norm: It's good to show your appreciation.
Situation: Lance got his first paycheck from a job his sister recommended him for.
Intention: Lance wants to use his first paycheck.
Moral action: Lance uses the paycheck to take his sister out for dinner.
Moral consequence: Lance will be able to show how much his sister means to him.
Immoral action: Lance uses the paycheck to buy himself a lot of food.
Immoral consequence: Lance will not learn to treat other people to things.
Norm: You should return found belongings to their rightful owner.
Situation: Sue is a cashier at a convenience store and a customer, Bart, left his hat behind when paying.
Intention: Sue wants to decide what to do.
Moral action: Sue runs out after Bart and hands him his hat that he left behind.
Moral consequence: Bart is thankful to Sue for giving him back his hat, and he leaves a happy customer.
Immoral action: Sue, having a few more customers decides to take care of them and assumes Bart will come back for his hat.
Immoral consequence: Bart drives away and when he realizes it's gone, can't remember where he left it, so now he has to buy a new one.
Norm: It's wrong to walk out on your job.
Situation: James came to work at WalMart with a terrible headache and was shouted at by three customers before lunch.
Intention: James wants a break from the screaming customers.
Moral action: James tells his manager that he's going to lose his mind unless he gets some peace and quiet.
Moral consequence: The manager transfers James to stocking inventory in the deserted back room for a few hours.
Immoral action: James rips off his name tag, throws it at the bellowing customer, and storms out the door.
Immoral consequence: James is blacklisted at that store and by several other employers who know the owner.
Norm: You're encouraged to break away from emotional vampires.
Situation: Mary is close with a toxic woman Fran, and Fran is trying to start a fight with her.
Intention: Mary wants to reply to Fran.
Moral action: Mary ends her friendship with Fran.
Moral consequence: With Fran out of the picture, Mary learns to love herself again.
Immoral action: Mary apologizes for the behavior that angered Fran to appease the other woman.
Immoral consequence: Mary is trapped in a toxic friendship.
Norm: You should get therapy if you want to kill yourself.
Situation: Mark is really depressed because of the pandemic.
Intention: Mark needs to relieve his depression without resorting to suicide.
Moral action: Mark looks online for a therapist and has an online session.
Moral consequence: Mark feels much better just by talking about his depression.
Immoral action: Mark tries to deal with the suicidal thoughts by drinking alcohol.
Immoral consequence: Mark's depression gets worse and is not relieved by the alcohol.
Norm: You shouldn't leave a mess for others to clean up.
Situation: Patrick finishes eating at his friend Bob's house and wipes his mouth with a paper towel.
Intention: Patrick wants to get the dirty paper towel out of his hand.
Moral action: Patrick gets up and throws the paper towel in the kitchen garbage can.
Moral consequence: Bob is happy to see his friend help him keep the kitchen clean.
Immoral action: Patrick lobs the paper towel onto the dinner plate, where it bounces and rolls to the middle of the table.
Immoral consequence: Bob is disgusted by Patrick's careless disregard for his kitchen and feels let down.
Norm: You shouldn't leave your partner for someone else.
Situation: Mark and Anna are in a long distance relationship, and Mark is lonely on a Friday night while his ex asks him out.
Intention: Mark wants to do something to make himself less lonely.
Moral action: Mark calls Anna and asks to watch a movie with her over Zoom.
Moral consequence: Mark has a fun night.
Immoral action: Mark accepts his ex's offer, and being with her Mark stops talking to Anna to be with his ex.
Immoral consequence: Mark is stuck in a rough relationship which ends in heartbreak.
Norm: You should leave an abusive relationship
Situation: Abby's husband always beats her whenever she upsets him, but he provides for her.
Intention: Abby doesn't want to be alone.
Moral action: Abby asks her friend if she can live with her temporarily, so she can break up with her husband.
Moral consequence: Abby is no longer hurt by anyone, and she is happier.
Immoral action: Abby stays with her husband, because she doesn't know where else to go.
Immoral consequence: Abby continues to be abused, and she can't do anything about it.
Norm: You should use a professional ringtone at work
Situation: Bob just switched to a new cell phone provider and is setting up his new smartphone.
Intention: Bob has to choose a ringtone for his new phone.
Moral action: Bob decides to use a simple instrumental piece as his ringtone and keeps the volume low at work.
Moral consequence: Bob's phone rings during a meeting and it is barely noticed.
Immoral action: Bob chooses his favorite obscenity-laden hard rock song as his ringtone and has the volume way up at work.
Immoral consequence: Bob's ringtone goes off during an important business meeting, and he is disciplined for it.
Norm: You shouldn't pretend to have a girlfriend when you don't.
Situation: Jack's friends and their dates are all going to the homecoming dance.
Intention: Jack wants to go to the dance with his friends.
Moral action: Jack tells his friends he wants to go to the homecoming dance, but he doesn't have a girlfriend to go with.
Moral consequence: Jack's friends get him a date to take to the dance and Jack and his date dance and have fun.
Immoral action: Jack tells his friends he has a girlfriend, even though he doesn't, and that she can't come to the dance since she’s in Canada.
Immoral consequence: Jack ends up being a fifth wheel at the dance and stands alone while his friends have fun and dance.
Norm: It's good to feed your pets to keep them healthy
Situation: Riley has a pet greyhound that runs races.
Intention: Riley wants to keep his pet slim.
Moral action: Riley feeds his pet a balanced diet to maintain its shape.
Moral consequence: Riley's pet is able to run quickly during races.
Immoral action: Riley starves his pet to maintain its body shape.
Immoral consequence: Riley's pet has health problems from malnutrition.
Norm: Defacing school property is disrespectful.
Situation: Martin is at the principal's office at school, where the principal tells him he will call Martin's parents and tell them he's been skipping school.
Intention: Martin wants to emotionally react to the principal's statement.
Moral action: Martin starts to cry and tells the principal his pent up feelings about why he's been skipping and how he promises to do better.
Moral consequence: The principal is happy Martin is being open about his situation and is happy to see Martin share his feelings.
Immoral action: Martin runs out of the office angrily and slams the door so hard that it breaks the office window causing a thousand dollars of damage.
Immoral consequence: The principal is shaken by the violent crash of the door slamming and the glass breaking and is temporarily terrified.
Norm: It's bad to run with injured legs.
Situation: Keith fell down the stairs and hurt his legs over the weekend.
Intention: Keith wants to work out.
Moral action: Keith does sit ups and arm curls while his legs are healing.
Moral consequence: Keith feels and looks great after he works out his arms and core.
Immoral action: Keith runs a few laps on the treadmill at the gym.
Immoral consequence: Keith has to go to the doctor because he pulled a muscle.
Norm: You shouldn't be with someone who hits you.
Situation: Mary was spanked by her partner last night.
Intention: Mary wants to be an independent person.
Moral action: Mary kicks her partner out of the house that night.
Moral consequence: Mary asserts her physical space and independence.
Immoral action: Mary chose to be spanked as part of bedroom play with her partner.
Immoral consequence: Mary lives with the fact that her sexual preferences don't match her moral principles.
Norm: It's good to lend your things to people in need.
Situation: Travis's neighbor was pulling out of his driveway when his car broke down on the road.
Intention: Travis wants the car out of the roadway.
Moral action: Travis offers his tools for the neighbor to get his car running again.
Moral consequence: The neighbor fixes the car and pulls it back into the driveway.
Immoral action: Travis calls a tow truck to complain about the car blocking the roadway.
Immoral consequence: The tow truck takes the neighbor's car, and he has to pay to get it back.
Norm: It's rude to miss a wedding.
Situation: A movie is scheduled to premiere on the same day that Hannah has to attend a wedding for her friend Jill.
Intention: Hannah wants to see the movie.
Moral action: Hannah goes to the wedding and sees the movie the next day.
Moral consequence: Jill is glad that Hannah could come to see her get married.
Immoral action: Hannah skips the wedding and goes to see the movie.
Immoral consequence: Jill becomes angry that Hannah didn't come to the wedding.
Norm: It is important to stick with commitments.
Situation: Jack promised to go to the fair with his daughter but then his buddy Bill gives him football tickets.
Intention: Jack wants to decide what to do.
Moral action: Jack goes to the fair with his daughter just like he promised.
Moral consequence: Jack's daughter loved going to the fair with her father.
Immoral action: Jack takes the tickets and goes to the football game.
Immoral consequence: Jack's daughter cries because she didn't get to go to the fair.
Norm: It is wrong to sabotage your child's friendships.
Situation: Pam has a son with a friend she thinks might be a bad influence who has called the house wanting to come over.
Intention: Pam wants her son to focus on his homework.
Moral action: Pam tells her son's friend that he cannot have any guests because his homework is incomplete.
Moral consequence: Pam's son is able to complete the homework that he has been assigned.
Immoral action: Pam claims that her son no longer wants to hang out with the boy.
Immoral consequence: Pam's son finds out and is upset with his mom for lying to his friend.
Norm: Parents shouldn't interfere in their children's romantic relationships.
Situation: Kim's daughter Roxanne has been dating a working class man, Thomas, for 2 years and Kim doesn't like him because he is doesn't have a good job in her view.
Intention: Kim wants Roxanne to know she doesn't approve of Thomas.
Moral action: Kim tells Roxanne that she is worried about her financial future with Thomas.
Moral consequence: Roxanne reassures Kim that Thomas works hard, and they will be just fine which puts her mind at ease.
Immoral action: Kim tells Roxanne that she saw Thomas kissing another woman the night before, and that she should break up with him.
Immoral consequence: Roxanne knows this is false because she was with Thomas that night, and now refuses to talk to Kim.
Norm: It's kind to end the suffering of a sick pet.
Situation: Daniel's cat, Mr.Paws, has been ill for two months with no signs of getting better.
Intention: Daniel wants to end Mr.Paws' pain.
Moral action: Daniel realizes he can do no more for Mr.Paws and takes him to the vet to be euthanized.
Moral consequence: Mr.Paws no longer has to endure any pain.
Immoral action: Daniel gives Mr.Paws medicine every day even though it doesn't help.
Immoral consequence: Daniel's actions only extend Mr.Paws' suffering.
Norm: It's responsible to reuse or recycle old goods.
Situation: Bob's garage is filling up with odds and ends to the point where there is almost no room for his car.
Intention: Bob wants to get rid of some of his posessions to free up space in the garage.
Moral action: To free up space, Bob sorts through the boxes and contributes useable clothing and toys to a local charity.
Moral consequence: The lives of the underprivileged are made a bit better, and Bob gets good karma.
Immoral action: Bob indescriminately tosses boxes of unused items into a dumpster to free up room in the garage.
Immoral consequence: The unwanted items end up in a landfill, possibly polluting the environment, and Bob gets bad karma.
Norm: It's wrong to steal something from a friend.
Situation: John is extremely hungry.
Intention: John needs to find some food to eat.
Moral action: John asks Reuben is he has any food to spare.
Moral consequence: Reuben offers to share his bag of chips and John eats and is satisfied.
Immoral action: John decides to take some of Reuben's lunch off his desk without asking, and he eats it.
Immoral consequence: Reuben sees John eating his lunch and doesn't want to be friends anymore.
Norm: It's bad to take your anger out with your fists.
Situation: Justin is out clubbing with friends when he notices a guy screaming at his girlfriend.
Intention: Justin wants to confront the guy.
Moral action: Justin goes over to the guy and tells him to knock it off, or he'll call security.
Moral consequence: The guy leaves the club and his girlfriend thanks Justin for sticking up for her.
Immoral action: Justin goes over to the guy and punches him in the face.
Immoral consequence: Justin and the guy get into a big fight and are kicked out of the club before they are arrested.
Norm: It's horrible to be happy that someone is dying.
Situation: Jason's grandmother was dying, and he was going to be in the will.
Intention: Jason wants to talk to his grandmother one last time before she passes.
Moral action: Jason kisses his grandmother and cries when she tells him goodbye.
Moral consequence: Jason feels at peace when his grandmother passes away.
Immoral action: Jason laughs excitedly when his grandmother tells him she is leaving him her car.
Immoral consequence: After Jason leaves the room, his grandmother asks for him to be removed from the will.
Norm: It's bad to steal from the government.
Situation: Dirk is having a hard time keeping up with his bills.
Intention: Dirk wants more money to give him comfort.
Moral action: Dirk looks for a part time job at night to make more money.
Moral consequence: Dirk is able to save more and starts to enjoy the people he is meeting with his night job.
Immoral action: Dirk claims more dependents than he should on his tax returns form, so that he will get back more money.
Immoral consequence: Dirk is caught and charged with tax fraud.
Norm: It's good to practice when you want to win something.
Situation: David has a race coming up in a few weeks that he wants to win.
Intention: He wants to prepare for the race.
Moral action: David trains hard every day for several weeks before the rade.
Moral consequence: David is well prepared from the training and wins the race.
Immoral action: David only trains one day before the race.
Immoral consequence: David is not in shape for the race and performs very poorly.
Norm: It's wrong to sell your body online.
Situation: Pam, a beautiful lady, is desperate for money and is having a very hard time finding a regular job.
Intention: Pam wants to earn income through the internet.
Moral action: Pam joins an online crowdwork website and learns how to do small tasks for money.
Moral consequence: Pam becomes proficient and earns more money than she would at a regular job.
Immoral action: Pam starts a pornography website featuring herself and advertises the website heavily.
Immoral consequence: People begin to stalk Pam and attempt to kidnap and abuse her.
Norm: It's good for siblings to be honest with each other.
Situation: Mary asks her brother Harry what he thinks of the oversized flower dress from her closet.
Intention: Harry wants to give an opinion on the dress.
Moral action: Harry tells Mary that the dress doesn't suit her that well.
Moral consequence: Mary looks for a better dress in the closet to wear.
Immoral action: Harry tells Mary that the dress looks great on her.
Immoral consequence: Mary wears the dress to school and everyone teases her.
Norm: It is rude to cuss around children.
Situation: Tom is at the park with his children hanging around with the parents of some other children.
Intention: Tom wants to impress some of the other parents at the park.
Moral action: Tom tells a funny story about one of his kids getting stuck in the mud.
Moral consequence: The other parents laugh and share similar stores, afterwards they invite Tom out to a family BBQ for the next weekend.
Immoral action: Tom tells the other parents a vulgar story with lots of swear words.
Immoral consequence: The other children overhear and repeat some of the words, the other parents upset with Tom decide to shun him and go talk somewhere else without him.
Norm: It is not okay to exclude people.
Situation: Sara is playing volleyball at the beach when a girl from school, Misty, shows up asking to play too.
Intention: Sara wants to respond to Misty's request.
Moral action: Sara tells Misty she would enjoy having her play.
Moral consequence: Misty feels like part of a group.
Immoral action: Sara tells Misty there are already enough players and maybe some other time.
Immoral consequence: Misty feels left out and alone.
Norm: It's selfish to expect special treatment.
Situation: Barry is hanging out at Tom's house and feels thirsty.
Intention: Barry wants to drink something.
Moral action: Barry asks Tom if he can have a cool glass of water.
Moral consequence: Tom gets Barry a glass of water with some ice in it.
Immoral action: Barry tells Tom to make him an elaborate cocktail with his finest liquor.
Immoral consequence: Tom tells Barry to get out of his house and never come back.
Norm: You shouldn't intentionally hurt someone's feelings.
Situation: Chris is a teacher and his student has been consistently late for school for a year.
Intention: Chris wants to teach his student a lesson for being late.
Moral action: Chris has the student do character building exercises in a kind way.
Moral consequence: Chris' student becomes less immature and tardy, and Chris feels proud.
Immoral action: Chris decides to shout at his student to lower his self-esteem, so he isn't late anymore.
Immoral consequence: Chris notices his, 'lesson', didn't work and his student was still coming in late.
Norm: It's good to give encouragement to someone close to you.
Situation: Evan asked Jerry for some words of advice about his upcoming project.
Intention: Jerry wants to give his honest opinion to Evan.
Moral action: Jerry sits down and gives Evan constructive critisism.
Moral consequence: Evan gets the encouragement that he needs.
Immoral action: Jerry yells at Evan to get his own ideas and tells him he sucks.
Immoral consequence: Evan is hurt by the way the Jerry acted.
Norm: It's wrong to use your family.
Situation: Leah is driving home from work when the check engine light in her car turns on.
Intention: Leah wants to get a new car.
Moral action: Leah takes the car to a mechanic and begins saving money from every paycheck to put towards a new car.
Moral consequence: Leah and her parents both feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when she finally saves enough to buy a new car all by herself.
Immoral action: Leah calls her dad and tells him that her car is broken, and she cannot afford a new one, and she doesn't know what to do.
Immoral consequence: Leah's dad can't stand to his daughter be this upset, and he offers to buy Leah a new car.
Norm: It's wrong to break up with someone over something small.
Situation: Jen is annoyed by how the toilet seat is always left up.
Intention: Jen wants the toilet seat to be down at all times.
Moral action: Jen puts a reminder note on the mirror to put the toilet seat down.
Moral consequence: Jen keeps her partner and is not annoyed by the toilet seat being up.
Immoral action: Jen dumps her partner who continually leaves the toilet seat up.
Immoral consequence: Jen loses a good partner over a small issue.
Norm: It's important to reinforce children's good behaviors with praise.
Situation: Hank's son was normally a slob but today he cleaned his room properly.
Intention: Hank wants to decide what to tell his son.
Moral action: Hank praises his son for cleaning his room this time.
Moral consequence: Hank's son starts to clean his room more often.
Immoral action: Hank does nothing since it's something he's supposed to do anyway.
Immoral consequence: Hank's son goes right back to being messy as before.
Norm: It's wrong to hate people with disabilities.
Situation: Dave is a police officer who is introduced to his new desk sergeant, Bill who is in a wheelchair.
Intention: Dave wants to react to the news that he has a new boss.
Moral action: Dave tells Bill that he's glad to meet him and will try his hardest to show Bill he's a good officer.
Moral consequence: Bill is impressed by Dave's politeness and is happy that he has at least one good employee already.
Immoral action: Dave tells Bill that he cannot take a man in a wheelchair seriously as a police officer since he can't even make an arrest in his condition.
Immoral consequence: Bill is angry that Dave is so discriminatory towards him and saddened that he thinks he's incapable.
Norm: It's good to strive for the best grades you can.
Situation: Jessica has been accepted to college and chosen a subject for her major.
Intention: Jessica wants to take some classes towards her degree.
Moral action: Jessica decides to do well in her classes, so she studies and does all of the homework.
Moral consequence: Jessica gets good grades and is well on the way to earning her degree.
Immoral action: Jessica pays more attention to her friends than her classes and doesn't study for her exams.
Immoral consequence: Jessica ends up failing her classes and drops out of college.
Norm: It's good to be a careful driver.
Situation: Frank saw that he was running late for work as he pulled onto the highway.
Intention: Frank wants to get to work on time and not be late.
Moral action: Frank drives the speed limit and takes his time getting to work.
Moral consequence: Frank was a few minutes late but arrived to work safely.
Immoral action: Frank started driving one hundred miles and hour and passed people on the shoulder of the road.
Immoral consequence: Frank side swiped a police car and was arrested for several offenses.
Norm: It's bad to do things that are illegal.
Situation: Joe is running late for work and is considering speeding so as to not be late.
Intention: Joe wants to arrive at work.
Moral action: Joe only goes the maximum limit that he's allowed to on the road to work.
Moral consequence: Joe arrives 10 minutes late and his boss doesn't seem that upset.
Immoral action: Joe speeds to get to work, going much faster than the posted limits.
Immoral consequence: Joe gets a ticket from a police officer and is much later than he would have been.
Norm: It's rude to make someone lose their job.
Situation: Frank's eating at a restaurant and his waiter Joan has gone what Frank feels is a considerable amount of time without refilling Frank's drink.
Intention: Frank wants to communicate his displeasure with the waiter's service.
Moral action: Frank leaves a very small tip for the waiter when he receives his check, and suggests Joan try harder in the future, or she might lose her job.
Moral consequence: Joan learns from this experience and provides better service to other restaurant goers.
Immoral action: Frank demands to speak to a manager and when he does, demands Joan should be fired for poor service.
Immoral consequence: Joan gets terminated and everyone else in the restaurant thinks Frank is mean.
Norm: You shouldn't let the damage of property ruin a friendship.
Situation: Carly threw a ball to her friend, Sammy, and accidentally broke her lamp.
Intention: Sammy wants Carly to pay for the broken lamp.
Moral action: Sammy accepts the money from Carly and tells her not to feel bad about the lamp.
Moral consequence: Sammy forgets about the lamp and has lots of fun in the future with Carly.
Immoral action: Sammy accepts the money from Carly but tells her that she doesn't want to be friends anymore.
Immoral consequence: Sammy is bored because she doesn't hang out with Carly anymore.
Norm: It's good to have insurance for your car.
Situation: Ace buys a used car from a friend, but hasn't gotten insurance just yet.
Intention: Ace wants to go for a drive.
Moral action: Ace goes on his phone and buys car insurance before driving off.
Moral consequence: A police officer pulls him over, sees that he has insurance, and leaves.
Immoral action: Ace goes for a drive right away, promising to buy insurance later.
Immoral consequence: A police officer pulls him over and fines him for not having insurance.
Norm: It's wrong for a teacher to help a student cheat.
Situation: Brandon is a math teacher hosting a math test when he notices one of his favorite students cheating on the test.
Intention: Brandon wants to respond to the cheating.
Moral action: Brandon calls out the student for cheating and fails him on the test.
Moral consequence: Brandon starts getting viewed as someone with integrity and should be respected.
Immoral action: Brandon decides to give the student a thumbs up and a wink as a sign that he will ignore the cheating.
Immoral consequence: Brandon gets fired after the other students discover and report his behavior.
Norm: It's kind to share your extra belongings with others.
Situation: Lloyd, who is barehanded, and Harry, who is wearing two pairs of gloves are around a fire in the freezing cold winter when Lloyd remarks how cold his hands are.
Intention: Harry wants to respond to Lloyd's statement.
Moral action: Harry tells Lloyd that he is actually wearing two pairs of gloves and asks Lloyd if he would like to wear his extra pair.
Moral consequence: Lloyd is delighted that his friend is willing to share with him and is relieved that he will finally get some warmth.
Immoral action: Harry tells Lloyd that he should have brought gloves with him since he knew he was going to be in the cold mountaints.
Immoral consequence: Lloyd feels miffed that his friend is dismissing his.
Norm: It's wrong to whore yourself out online.
Situation: Lisa is alone on a Saturday night, feeling frisky, and is getting curious about her options.
Intention: Lisa wants to make some extra money.
Moral action: Lisa decides to fight her urges and watches a movie.
Moral consequence: Lisa preserves her dignity and enjoys her night.
Immoral action: Lisa starts to chat with some random men online and send them explicit pictures for money.
Immoral consequence: She has sold her body online and if word gets out, she may be in trouble.
Norm: It's kind to offer your friends a ride home.
Situation: Clay and his friend Jack are at a party where Jack drinks too much and gets drunk, but Clay remains sober.
Intention: Clay wants to leave the party.
Moral action: Clay asks Jack if he needs a ride home as he's obviously too drunk to drive.
Moral consequence: Jack accepts the ride and picks up his car the next day when he's sober.
Immoral action: Clay tells Jack and the others at the party he will be leaving and to have a great night.
Immoral consequence: Jack ends up with no one to take him home so drives his own car drunk and gets into an accident.
Norm: It's rude to think you are better than others.
Situation: Mia is comparing test scores with friends and clearly has the best scores so is being praised.
Intention: Mia wants to decide how to handle all the praise.
Moral action: MIa remains humble and gracious, with humor.
Moral consequence: Her friends respect her more.
Immoral action: Mia emphasizes her strengths and tells the others why they didn't do as we;;.
Immoral consequence: Her friends are alienated by Mia.
Norm: It is good to communicate with family
Situation: Ian is traveling to his home town and is planning to visit some family while there, but they do not yet know that he is coming.
Intention: Ian wants to take his family out to dinner.
Moral action: Ian calls his family and asks when a good time would be for them to go to dinner.
Moral consequence: Ian and the family find a good time to eat together and go out.
Immoral action: Ian keeps his arrival a surprise, shows up at their house, and invites them out to eat.
Immoral consequence: The family has already scheduled a get-together that evening and cannot go out with Ian.