The Authentic Catch-22: the Effect of Following True Self on Decision Satisfaction in Moral Dilemmas

Abstract

A widespread lay theory suggests that following one’s true self leads to satisfying decision-making. Empirical research suggests that when people feel like they have followed their true self, they indeed feel more satisfied with their decisions. We aimed to examine a potential boundary condition of this effect: decision-making in the context of moral dilemmas that seemingly lack an easy solution. We suspected that this may be a boundary condition because another growing line of research suggests that people believe true selves are morally good. Thus, when people encounter a moral dilemma, they may feel like they are violating their moral true self no matter what they choose. In turn, they may feel dissatisfied with their choices when they believe they are following their true self relative to employing other decision-making instructions. Three experiments (total N = 568) were designed to test whether and how attempts to follow one’s true self influences decision satisfaction in moral dilemmas. The results consistently indicate that attempts to follow the true