The recognition of moral issues: moral awareness, moral sensitivity and moral attentiveness

•Scholars have identified three distinct constructs of moral recognition: moral awareness, moral sensitivity and moral attentiveness.•Moral recognition is shaped by a wide range of biological, psychological and socio-cultural antecedents.•Moral recognition is associated with moral behavior and many other positive outcomes.

In this brief review, we discuss foundational and recent research on the recognition of moral issues, an area generally referred to as moral awareness. Scholarly work in this area primarily focuses on three constructs: moral awareness, moral sensitivity, and moral attentiveness. Recent research on the antecedents of moral recognition has identified several biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors; while research on the consequences of moral recognition is further validating the claims of the foundational theories on the topic. After discussing this recent work in some detail, we point to issues within the field that demand more scholarly attention.