Honorable intentions versus praiseworthy accomplishments: The impact of motives and outcomes on the moral self |
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Authors: | Donelson R Forsyth |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 810 W. Franklin Street, 23284-2018 Richmond, VA |
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Abstract: | A centuries-old philosophical issue—Do honorable intentions make an action praiseworthy or is the best action one that generates
the greatest good for the greatest number?—was examined by telling subjects who were working to earn money for themselves
or a charity that they succeeded or failed at the task. Confirming predictions derived from personal moral philosophy theory,
idealistic individuals who stress the importance of fundamental moral principles (absolutists) felt the most positive about
their own morality when they were working for a charity, irrespective of the consequences of their actions. Principled individuals
who were not idealistic (exceptionists), however, reported feeling distressed when laboring for a charity rather than themselves
and the most morally virtuous when they performed badly when working for personal gain. Relativistic subjects (situationists
and subjectivists) did not rate themselves as positively when working for a charity. These findings indicate that, at the
psychological level, individuals consider both intentions and consequences when evaluating their own moral successes and failures,
but they differ in the weight that they assign to these two factors.
This research was supported by the Grants-In-Aid Program for Faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University. |
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