Moral Identity and the Experience of Moral Elevation in Response to Acts of Uncommon Goodness

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Volumn 100, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 703-718

  Aquino, Karl ^a   McFerran, Brent ^a,b   Laven, Marjorie ^a,c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN   (United States)

^c Laven Communication Services   (Canada)

Author keywords

Identity; Moral elevation; Moral identity; Morality; Prosocial behavior

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; EMOTION; EMPATHY; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MORALITY; MOTIVATION; PHYSIOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; STUDENT;

ADULT; AGED; EMOTIONS; EMPATHY; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; MORALS; MOTIVATION; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION; STUDENTS; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 79953691105     PISSN: 00223514     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0022540     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. Aiken L.S., West S.G. Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions 1991, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
2. Algoe S.B., Haidt J. Witnessing excellence in action: The " other-praising" emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. Journal of Positive Psychology 2009, 4:105-127. doi: 10.1080/17439760802650519.
3. Aquino K., Freeman D. Moral identity in business situations: A social-cognitive framework for understanding moral functioning. Personality, identity, and character: Explorations in moral psychology 2009, 375-395. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. D. Narvaez, D.K. Lapsley (Eds.).
4. Aquino K., Freeman D., Reed A., Lim V.K.G., Felps W. Testing a social cognitive model of moral behavior: The interaction of situational factors and moral identity centrality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2009, 97:123-141. doi: 10.1037/a0015406.
5. Aquino K., Reed A. The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2002, 83:1423-1440. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423.
6. Aquino K., Reed A., Stewart M.M., Shapiro D.L. Self-regulatory identity theory and reactions toward fairness enhancing organizational policies. What motivates fairness in organizations? 2005, 129-148. Information Age, Charlotte, NC. S.W. Gilliland, D.D. Steiner, D.P. Skarlicki, K. van den Bos (Eds.).
7. Aquino K., Reed A., Thau S., Freeman D. A grotesque and dark beauty: How moral identity and mechanisms of moral disengagement influence cognitive and emotional reactions to war. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2007, 43:385-392. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.013.
8. Baron R.M., Kenny D.A. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1986, 51:1173-1182. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.
9. Baumeister R.F., Bratslavsky E., Finkenauer C., Vohs K.D. Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology 2001, 5:323-370. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323.
10. Birnbaum M.H. The nonadditivity of person impressions. Journal of Experimental Psychology 1974, 102:543-561. doi: 10.1037/h0036014.
11. Blasi A. Bridging moral cognition and moral action: A critical review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin 1980, 88:1-45. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.88.1.1.
12. Blasi A. Moral identity: Its role in moral functioning. Morality, moral behavior, and moral development 1984, 128-139. Wiley, New York, NY. W.M. Kurtines, J.L. Gewirtz (Eds.).
13. Blasi A. Moral functioning: Moral understanding and personality. Moral development, self, and identity 2004, 335-348. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. D.K. Lapsley, D. Narvaez (Eds.).
14. Bollen K.A., Stine R. Direct and indirect effects: Classical and bootstrap estimates of variability. Social Methodology 1990, 20:115-140. doi: 10.2307/271084.
15. Chin W.W. The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. Modern methods for business research 1998, 295-336. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. G.A. Marcoulides (Ed.).
16. Collins L.M., Graham J.J., Flaherty B.P. An alternative framework for defining mediation. Multivariate Behavioral Research 1998, 33:295-312. doi: 10.1207/s15327906mbr3302_5.
17. De Bruin E.N.M., Van Lange P.A. What people look for in others: Influences of the perceiver and the perceived on information selection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2000, 26:206-219. doi: 10.1177/0146167200264007.
18. Detert J.R., Treviño L.K., Sweitzer V.L. Moral disengagement in ethical decision making: A study of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology 2008, 93:374-391. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.374.
19. Eisenberg N. Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology 2000, 51:665-697. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.665.
20. Ekman P. An argument for basic emotions. Cognition & Emotion 1992, 6:169-200. doi: 10.1080/02699939208411068.
21. Fenigstein A., Scheier M.F., Buss A.H. Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1975, 43:522-527. doi: 10.1037/h0076760.
22. Fiske S.T. Thinking is for doing: Portraits of social cognition from daguerreotype to laserphoto. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1992, 63:877-889. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.63.6.877.
23. Flescher A.M. Heroes, saints, and ordinary morality 1994, Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC.
24. Freeman D., Aquino K., McFerran B. Overcoming beneficiary race as an impediment to charitable donations: Social dominance orientation, the experience of moral elevation, and donation behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2009, 35:72-84. doi: 10.1177/0146167208325415.
25. Gilligan C. In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development 1982, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
26. Haidt J. The positive emotion of elevation. Prevention & Treatment 2000, 3. Article 3. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pre/3/1/3c.html.
27. Haidt J. The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review 2001, 108:814-834. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.108.4.814.
28. Haidt J. The moral emotions. Handbook of affective sciences 2003, 852-870. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. R.J. Davidson, K.R. Scherer, H.H. Goldsmith (Eds.).
29. Hardy S.A., Bhattacharjee A., Reed A., Aquino K. Moral identity and psychological distance: The case of adolescent parental socialization. Journal of Adolescence 2010, 33:111-123. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.04.008.
30. Hayes A. MODMED (Version 2.2) [Macro] 2009, Retrieved from http://www.comm.ohio-state.edu/ahayes/SPSS%20programs/modmed.htm.
31. Izard C. The psychology of emotions 1991, Plenum Press, New York, NY.
32. James W. The principles of psychology 1983, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, (Original work published 1890).
33. Jefferson T. Letter to Robert Skipwith. The portable Thomas Jefferson 1975, 349-351. Penguin, New York, NY, (Original work written 1771). M.D. Peterson (Ed.).
34. Kant, I. (1959). Foundations of the metaphysics of morals (L. W. Beck, Trans.). New York, NY: Bobbs-Merrill.
35. Keltner D., Haidt J. Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition & Emotion 2003, 17:297-314. doi: 10.1080/02699930302297.
36. Kohlberg L. Stage and sequence: The cognitive developmental approach to socialization. Handbook of socialization theory 1969, 347-480. Rand McNally, Chicago, IL. D.A. Goslin (Ed.).
37. Lapsley D.K., Lasky B. Prototypic moral character. Identity 2001, 1:345-363. doi: 10.1207/S1532706XID0104_03.
38. Lapsley D.K., Narvaez D. A social-cognitive approach to the moral personality. Moral development, self, and identity 2004, 189-212. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ. D.K. Lapsley, D. Narvaez (Eds.).
39. MacKinnon D.P., Krull J.L., Lockwood C.M. Equivalence of the mediation, confounding and suppression effect. Prevention Science 2000, 1:173-181. doi: 10.1023/A:1026595011371.
40. MacKinnon D.P., Lockwood C.M., Hoffman J.M., West S.G., Sheets V. A comparison of methods used to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods 2002, 7:83-104. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.7.1.83.
41. MacKinnon D.P., Lockwood C.M., Williams J. Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research 2004, 39:99-128. doi: 10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4.
42. McLachlan S., Marchand P. Adia [Recorded by S. McLachlan]. Surfacing [DVD] 1997, Nettwerk, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, New York, NY: Arista.
43. McLachlan S., Marchand P. World on fire [Recorded by S. McLachlan]. Afterglow [DVD] 2003, Nettwerk, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, New York, NY: Arista.
44. Olsen O.K., Eid J., Johnsen B.H. Moral behavior and transformational leadership in Norwegian navel cadets. Military Psychology 2006, 18:S37-S56. doi: 10.1207/s15327876mp1803s_4.
45. Preacher K.J., Hayes A.F. SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods 2004, 36:717-731.
46. Preacher K.J., Rucker D.D., Hayes A.F. Addressing moderated mediation hypothesis: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research 2007, 42:185-227.
47. Puka B. New research in moral development 1994, Garland, New York, NY.
48. Reed A., Aquino K.F. Moral identity and the expanding circle of moral regard toward out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003, 84:1270-1286. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.6.1270.
49. Reed A., Aquino K., Levy E. Moral identity and judgments of charitable behaviors. Journal of Marketing 2007, 71:178-193. doi: 10.1509/jmkg.71.1.178.
50. Reeder G.D., Brewer M.B. A schematic model of dispositional attribution in interpersonal perception. Psychological Review 1979, 86:61-79. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.86.1.61.
51. Reeder G.D., Coovert M.D. Revisiting an impression of morality. Social Cognition 1986, 4:1-7.
52. Reynolds S.J., Ceranic T. The effects of moral judgment and moral identity on moral behavior: An empirical examination of the moral individual. Journal of Applied Psychology 2007, 92:1610-1624. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1610.
53. Scherer K.R. Emotion as a multicomponent process: A model and some cross-cultural data. Review of Personality and Social Psychology 1984, 5:37-63. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA. P. Shaver (Ed.).
54. Schnall S., Roper J., Fessler D.M.T. Elevation leads to altruism, above and beyond general positive affect. Psychological Science 2010, 21:315-320. doi: 10.1177/0956797609359882.
55. Shao R., Aquino K., Freeman D. Beyond moral reasoning: A review of moral identity research and its implications for business ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly 2008, 18:513-540.
56. Shrout P.E., Bolger N. Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods 2002, 7:422-445. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.7.4.422.
57. Shweder R.A. " You're not sick, you're just in love": Emotion as an interpretive system. The nature of emotions: Fundamental questions 1994, 32-44. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. P. Ekman, R. Davidson (Eds.).
58. Silvers J.A., Haidt J. Moral elevation can induce nursing. Emotion 2008, 8:291-295. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.8.2.291.
59. Singer P. The expanding circle: Ethics and sociobiology 1981, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York, NY.
60. Skarlicki D.P., Van Jaarsveld D.D., Walker D. Getting even for customer mistreatment: The role of moral identity in the relationship between customer interpersonal injustice and employee sabotage. Journal of Applied Psychology 2008, 93:1335-1347. doi: 10.1037/a0012704.
61. Smith E.R., Semin G.R. Situated social cognition. Current Directions in Psychological Science 2007, 16:132-135. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00490.x.
62. Srull T.K., Wyer R.S. The role of category accessibility in the interpretation of information about persons: Some determinants and implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1979, 37:1660-1672. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.37.10.1660.
63. Weaver G.R. Virtue in organizations: Moral identity as a foundation for moral agency. Organization Studies 2006, 27:341-368. doi: 10.1177/0170840606062426.
64. Wojciszke B., Bazinska R., Jaworski M. On the dominance of moral categories in impression formation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 1998, 24:1251-1263. doi: 10.1177/01461672982412001.
65. Ybarra O. When first impressions don't last: The role of isolation and adaptation processes in the revision of evaluative impressions. Social Cognition 2001, 19:491-520. doi: 10.1521/soco.19.5.491.19910.
66. Ybarra O. Naive casual understanding of valenced behaviors and its implications for social information processing. Psychological Bulletin 2002, 128:421-441. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.3.421.
67. Ybarra O., Stephan W.G. Attributional orientations and the prediction of behavior: The attribution-prediction bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1999, 76:718-727. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.76.5.718.
68. Zak P.J., Kurzban R., Matzner W.R. Oxytocin is associated with human trustworthiness. Hormones and Behavior 2005, 48:522-527. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.07.009.