Am I A Judgmental Person?

Do you often make negative moral evaluations of others?

Are you likely to jump to negative moral conclusions about others; being inclined to believe the worst?

Do you act as if you can know that what someone did was wrong even though you don’t know enough about the context of the person’s actions?

Do you have a moral rating system that is skewed in your own favor?

Do you often make judgments like ‘this person is morally corrupt’, instead of ‘the action Is morally wrong’?

Based on your answers, it’s unlikely that you are a judgmental person, which is good news. We all should try to avoid being judgmental. People who are considered judgmental get a kick out of making negative moral assessments of others. They like to improve their own sense of moral worth by comparing with the (supposed) lesser moral status of other people. People who feel morally inferior find satisfaction in seeing others fail, because by comparison they are not so bad after all. This type of people love having their false sense of moral superiority reinforced.

Based on your answers, you are displaying one or two signs of a judgmental person. Being judgmental distorts our perception of ourselves and others. There exists a lack of sympathetic understanding of others and being judgmental is often linked with other flaws in someone’s character, including insensitivity, hypocrisy, and self-righteousness. We all should try to avoid being judgmental. If we think that everyone who has another moral view than we have is judgmental, is jumping to a negative moral conclusion to them.

Unfortunately, you are displaying signs typically seen among individuals who are judgmental. Someone who makes a negative moral judgment is not necessarily being judgmental. Someone is considered judgmental if the person enjoys making harsh judgments of others. We should avoid jumping to the conclusion that someone who makes moral judgments with which we don’t agree is judgmental. We can’t simply conclude that it is they, not we, who need to change our views.