This cross-disciplinary book investigates how morality translates into action by presenting original psychological research on our understanding of rights and duties. This topical focus is especially timely in our post 9/11 world where the relative rights and duties of citizens and our government are foremost in our minds. One objective within the book is to explore the general public's ideas (both in the U.S. and abroad) about rights versus duties, so that legislative and policy changes can be based on solid support, not assumptions. Chapters by empirical researchers present findings on citizens' commonsense understandings of rights and duties, while chapters by leading social theorists conceptualize rights and duties from many perspectives. By contrasting present-day circumstances of life in many social spheres with the world of ideas, The Psychology of Rights and Duties exposes the debate between what human rights and duties are and what they ought to be.