The Moralization of Effort

People believe that effort is valuable, but what kind of value does it confer? We find that displays of effort signal moral character. Eight studies (N = 5,502) demonstrate the nature of these effects in the domains of paid employment, personal fitness, and charitable fundraising. The exertion of ef...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental psychology. General 2023-01, Vol.152 (1), p.60-79
Main Authors: Celniker, Jared B., Gregory, Andrew, Koo, Hyunjin J., Piff, Paul K., Ditto, Peter H., Shariff, Azim F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charitable Behavior
Cues
Decision Making
Economics
Employment
Female
Fund raising
Fundraising
Heuristics
Human
Humans
Judgment
Male
Mental Disorders
Morality
Morals
Partners
Physical fitness
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Summary:People believe that effort is valuable, but what kind of value does it confer? We find that displays of effort signal moral character. Eight studies (N = 5,502) demonstrate the nature of these effects in the domains of paid employment, personal fitness, and charitable fundraising. The exertion of effort is deemed morally admirable (Studies 1-6) and is monetarily rewarded (Studies 2-6), even in situations where effort does not directly generate additional product, quality, or economic value. Convergent patterns of results emerged in South Korean and French cross-cultural replications (Studies 2b and 2c). We contend that the seeming irrationality of valuing effort for its own sake, such as in situations where one's efforts do not directly increase economic output (Studies 3-6), reveals a "deeply rational" social heuristic for evaluating potential cooperation partners. Specifically, effort cues engender broad moral trait ascriptions, and this moralization of effort influences donation behaviors (Study 5) and cooperative partner choice decision-making (Studies 4 and 6). In situating our account of effort moralization into past research and theorizing, we also consider the implications of these effects for social welfare policy and the future of work.
ISSN:0096-3445
1939-2222
DOI:10.1037/xge0001259