Emotion and intergroup cooperation: How verbal expressions of guilt, shame, and pride influence behavior in a social dilemma

Abstract

In interpersonal relations, it is known that expressing self-conscious emotions such as guilt and shame following a transgression is beneficial to reconciliation. In the current research, we examine whether this also applies to intergroup relations. Groups of three persons played an intergroup version of the "centipede game," in which one party can cooperate with or exploit another party. In Study 1, two groups played six rounds of this game in each of two phases. Between phases, groups rated how much guilt, shame, and pride they experienced in relation to how they had performed in Phase 1; these ratings were shared with the opposing group. Groups expressing high levels of guilt and shame were associated with greater cooperation in Phase 2, whereas groups expressing high levels of pride were associated with lower cooperation in Phase 2. In Study 2, all groups played against a "group" programmed to behave in an exploitative way in Phase 1. This group then expressed shame, pride, or no emotion (control) about its performance. Cooperation in Phase 2 was significantly higher in the shame than in the pride condition, and altruistic punishment was highest in the pride condition and lowest in the shame condition. Between them, these studies show that emotional expression plays an important role in repairing intergroup relationships and in particular that expressing shame about a transgression enhances intergroup cooperation following a transgression.

Morality, Altruism, and Occupation Choice: Theory and Evidence

“…Those who choose the taking public sector job may experience guilt from the act of corruption, and they may try to compensate for their feelings of guilt by being more altruistic in the taking public sector jobs. Empirical evidence supports this channel (Regan, 1971;Haidt, 2003;Nunney et al, 2022;Scaffidi et al, 2022). We also find that subjects in the taking public sector job are more altruistic relative to the no-taking public sector job.…”

Case Conceptualizing in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Moral Injury: An Active and Ongoing Approach to Understanding and Intervening on Moral Injury

“…From a functional contextual perspective taking into account the context in which a behavior is elicited and the purposes that behavior serves for the individual, behavior causing moral injury to persist occurs when an individual's relationship to moral pain creates suffering. Furthermore, in conceptualizing painful moral emotions as serving important social and evolutionary functions (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), the presence of moral pain is not a signal of psychopathology, but a signal that an individual has experienced a moral code violation. Thus, rather than seeking only to reduce the pain, a functional approach seeks to address the underlying issues communicated by the pain.…”

Merits matter: A new perspective on multifaceted pride and its effects on conspicuous consumption

“…They additionally noted that AP is accompanied by genuine feelings of self‐worth, while HP reflects distorted and aggrandizing self‐views (Tracy & Robins, 2007). Until recently, many researchers are investigating various consequences of pride such as cooperation (Nunney et al, 2022), antisocial behavior (Mercadante & Tracy, 2022), or eWOM (Liu et al, 2022), and the relationship between the two facets of pride and social rank (Witkower et al, 2022) based on the A/H model.…”