Beyond prosociality: Recalling many types of moral behavior produces positive emotion

Prosocial acts can increase positive emotions and contribute to emotional well-being, but it is unclear whether other types of moral behavior have similar effects. Respondents from a large online sample (N = 1783) were randomly assigned to recall recent instances when they had performed moral, self-...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-11, Vol.17 (11), p.e0277488-e0277488
Main Authors: Miles, Andrew, Upenieks, Laura, Orfanidis, Christos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Biology and Life Sciences
Helping behavior
Mediation
Medicine and Health Sciences
Methods
Morality
Psychological aspects
Social Sciences
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Prosocial acts can increase positive emotions and contribute to emotional well-being, but it is unclear whether other types of moral behavior have similar effects. Respondents from a large online sample (N = 1783) were randomly assigned to recall recent instances when they had performed moral, self-indulgent, or routine acts. Those who recalled self-indulgent behaviors or acts associated with care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity-based morality increased in positive emotions relative to routine acts controls. Initial evidence suggests that effects for recalling moral acts occurred in part because individuals who recalled these behaviors generated positive moral self-appraisals and satisfied a basic psychological need for relatedness. Study results are consistent with the recent claim that morality is a basic psychological need.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0277488