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Moral Self-Appraisals Explain Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Behavior

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  • Andrew Miles

    (University of Toronto)

  • Laura Upenieks

    (Baylor University)

Abstract

Scholars have argued that prosocial behavior produces positive emotions because it fulfills basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. These explanations have largely neglected morality, despite the fact that prosocial behaviors are widely considered to be moral. To determine whether seeing oneself as acting morally—moral self-appraisals—explained this effect, we conducted a preliminary measurement study followed by three online experiments that collectively include nearly 2000 respondents. A meta-analysis of our experimental results revealed that recalling or performing prosocial behavior has a small positive effect on positive emotion (β = 0.12, p

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Miles & Laura Upenieks, 2022. "Moral Self-Appraisals Explain Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Behavior," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1793-1814, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00434-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-021-00434-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lara B. Aknin & Elizabeth W. Dunn & Gillian M. Sandstrom & Michael I. Norton, 2013. "Does social connection turn good deeds into good feelings? On the value of putting the 'social' in prosocial spending," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(2), pages 155-171.
    2. Lambarraa, Fatima & Riener, Gerhard, 2015. "On the norms of charitable giving in Islam: Two field experiments in Morocco," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 69-84.
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    Cited by:

    1. Guoqiang Wu & Lijin Zhang, 2022. "Longitudinal Associations between Teacher-Student Relationships and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Basic Need Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Peiyu Zhou & Yuguang Xie & Changyong Liang & Junhong Zhu & Shuping Zhao, 2024. "The effect of prosocial behavior and its intensity on doctors’ performance in an online health community," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.

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