Moral judgment toward relationship betrayals and those who commit them

Selterman, Dylan; Moors, Amy C.; Koleva, Spassena

doi:10.1111/pere.12228

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…An interesting finding of this study was that previous experience with infidelity does not affect the perception of extradyadic behavior as indicative of it. This could be due to the fact that the perception of extradyadic behavior could be influenced to a greater extent by social norms, because such behaviors tend to occur within a more collective and less situational context (e.g., infidelity may be less accepted at a social level; however, it is more tolerated within the relationship; Selterman and Koleva, 2015; Selterman et al, 2018). Future research could replicate these findings considering the role of social norms in the perception of extradyadic behaviors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unforgiveness Motivations in Romantic Relationships Experiencing Infidelity: Negative Affect and Anxious Attachment to the Partner as Predictors

2019

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Infidelity is considered an unforgivable betrayal. However, not all behaviors considered unfaithful affect the person who suffers them in the same way. Therefore, to have a better understanding of unforgiveness according to different extradyadic behaviors, two studies were designed. Study 1 ( N = 240) explored which extradyadic behaviors are considered as more indicative of infidelity. The results revealed that sexual behaviors were considered more unfaithful when compared with technological, emotional/affective, and solitary behaviors. Study 2 ( N = 378) examined the influence of experienced extradyadic behaviors on unforgiveness, negative affect, and anxious attachment to the partner. The results showed that (a) sexual and technological behaviors were less frequently forgiven and promoted a more intense negative affect, (b) anxious attachment was predictive of unforgiveness for sexual and technological behaviors, and (c) negative affect mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and unforgiveness for sexual and technological behaviors. These findings and their possible implications for romantic relationships are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unforgiveness Motivations in Romantic Relationships Experiencing Infidelity: Negative Affect and Anxious Attachment to the Partner as Predictors

2019

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“…In addition, it remains an open question whether the present findings generalize to more severe transgressions within close relationships (see e.g., Selterman et al, 2018). Notably, some prior research found stronger favoritism of close (vs. distant) others for more (vs. less) severe transgressions (e.g., credit card fraud; Weidman et al, 2020), but did not include the self as a target (and transgressor).…”

Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 62%

Other-serving double standards: People show moral hypercrisy in close relationships

Weiß

Burgmer

2021

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Extending research on self-serving double moral standards (hypocrisy), we examine the reverse pattern of other-serving hypercrisy toward close relationship partners. In three studies ( N = 1,019), for various imagined transgressions, people made more lenient moral judgments for their close friends (Studies 1 & 2) and romantic partners (Study 3) compared to themselves. This hypercrisy effect emerged both for transgressions toward third parties (Study 1) and toward each other (i.e., within the relationship; Studies 2 & 3). Moreover, it was moderated by perceptions of the relationship: Participants who more strongly believed their relationship to be a zero-sum game (i.e., needs can only be met competitively) showed greater leniency for themselves and attenuated hypercrisy for mutual transgressions (Studies 2 & 3). Investigating people’s close others rather than strangers as targets of moral judgment thus suggests that other-serving hypercrisy is more prevalent than previously thought, but sensitive to people’s conceptualizations of their relationships.

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“…To operationalize immoral achievements, we used a theoretical framework for three types of moral violations: care/harm, loyalty/betrayal, and purity/degradation. Previous research suggested that the perception of these particular categories negatively impacts interpersonal relationships (Selterman et al, 2018; Selterman & Koleva, 2015). We conducted a pilot study to develop and validate a set of capitalization disclosures, that is, brief success stories that individuals communicate with others (see Table 1).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evil joy is hard to share: Negative affect attenuates interpersonal capitalizing on immoral deeds.

Misiak¹,

Behnke²,

Peters³

et al. 2023

Emotion

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Capitalization is an interpersonal process in which individuals (capitalizers) communicate their accomplishments to others (responders). When these attempts to capitalize are met with enthusiastic responses, individuals reap greater personal and social benefits from the accomplishment. This research integrated the interpersonal model of capitalization with moral foundations theory to examine whether accomplishments achieved through immoral (vs. moral) means disrupt the interpersonal processes of capitalization. We hypothesized that an accomplishment achieved through immoral (vs. moral) means would suppress the positive affective response often reaped from capitalizing on good news. We conducted two, mixed-methods experiments in which individuals interacted with a stranger (Study 1) or with their romantic partner (Study 2). We found that responders exhibited greater self-reported negative emotions, avoidance motivation, and arousal when reacting to capitalizers’ immoral (vs. moral) accomplishments. In turn, greater negative affect predicted less enthusiastic verbal responses to capitalization attempts. In Study 2 we found that immoral accomplishments increased avoidance motivation, which contrary to our expectations, increased expressions of happiness. These studies reveal that the moral means by which accomplishments are achieved can disrupt the interpersonal process of capitalization.

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Moral judgment toward relationship betrayals and those who commit them

Cited by 17 publications

References 46 publications

Unforgiveness Motivations in Romantic Relationships Experiencing Infidelity: Negative Affect and Anxious Attachment to the Partner as Predictors

Unforgiveness Motivations in Romantic Relationships Experiencing Infidelity: Negative Affect and Anxious Attachment to the Partner as Predictors

Other-serving double standards: People show moral hypercrisy in close relationships

Evil joy is hard to share: Negative affect attenuates interpersonal capitalizing on immoral deeds.

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