In the age of social networking, people’s opinions have never been so openly expressed and scrutinised. It is therefore more important than ever to understand how they are formed, and what can potentially influence them.

A study published in the journal PLOS One examines this phenomenon and shows that our moral judgements are far less rigid than we might imagine.

The authors of this research wanted to determine the extent to which individual moral judgments could be influenced by groups, whether real or virtual. After all, our thoughts and actions are far more subject to the approval of the world around us than we might imagine. That’s why we tend to surround ourselves with like-minded people, both in the real world and online.