Willpower as moral ability.

Gai, Phyliss Jia; Bhattacharjee, Amit

doi:10.1037/xge0001169

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Convergent evidence for our hypothesis can be found in the literature examining the link between morality and self-control (Gai & Bhattacharjee, 2022; Hofmann et al, 2018; Mooijman et al, 2018). Specifically, Mooijman and colleagues demonstrated that binding moral values lead to the moralization of self-control.…”

Section: Hypotheses Developmentsupporting

confidence: 71%

When is sensory consumption immoral?

Goenka¹,

Thomas²

2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Although humans are hard-wired to pursue sensory pleasure, they show considerable heterogeneity in their moral evaluations of sensory pleasure. In some societies, sensory pleasure is pursued without any moral inhibition, but in other societies, it is considered to be immoral and actively suppressed. This research investigates the moral motives behind the suppression of sensory consumption. Is the suppression of sensory consumption caused by the moral motive to promote social justice or the moral motive to promote social order? We test these two competing accounts through country-level archival data and seven preregistered controlled experiments. We find robust evidence that the social-order emphasizing binding moral foundations (authority, loyalty, and purity; Haidt, 2007) suppress sensory consumption. Consequently, individuals and societies that adhere to the binding values are less likely to consume sensory products such as alcohol, tobacco, soda, fragrances, and sex toys. These effects are mediated by prescriptive moral beliefs and feelings of shame. We also identify several moderators of the moral suppression of sensory consumption. Binding values do not suppress sensory consumption after moral licensing. The effects of binding values on sensory consumption attenuate when the products are framed as status-affirming. Finally, while binding values suppress sensory consumption that is personal, they do not suppress sensory consumption that is shared. Altogether, our findings show that social-order emphasizing moral beliefs in society can inhibit the pursuit of pleasure and change consumption patterns in the economy.

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Section: Hypotheses Developmentsupporting

confidence: 71%

When is sensory consumption immoral?

Goenka¹,

Thomas²

2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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“…Lie-Panis and André (2022) show that, because ability to delay gratification enables higher levels of cooperation, it can evolve into a credible signal of trustworthiness. Psychological evidence confirms that, in interaction with strangers as well as in established relationships, people infer others' self-control from their behavior, and expect individuals they perceive as more self-controlled to behave more cooperatively (Buyukcan-Tetik & Pronk, 2021; Buyukcan-Tetik, Finkenauer, Siersema, Vander Heyden, & Krabbendam, 2015; Gai & Bhattacharjee, 2022; Gomillion, Lamarche, Murray, & Harris, 2014; Koval, VanDellen, Fitzsimons, & Ranby, 2015; Peetz & Kammrath, 2013; Righetti & Finkenauer, 2011). People's intuitions about a good moral character include traits arguably related to self-control, such as being principled or responsible (Goodwin, 2015; Goodwin, Piazza, & Rozin, 2013).…”

Section: The Moral Disciplining Theory Of Puritanismmentioning

confidence: 92%

Moral disciplining: The cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality

Fitouchi

André²,

Baumard³

2022

Behav Brain Sci

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Why do many human societies morally condemn apparently victimless and pleasurable behaviors, such as lust, gluttony, drinking, drugs, gambling, or even music and dance? Why do they morally praise temperance, chastity, sobriety, decency, and piety? While this puritanical morality often appears as an exception to the cooperative function of moral cognition, we propose that it stems, like other moral concerns, from moral judgements targeting cooperative challenges. Specifically, we propose that it consists of preemptive moralizations of behaviors perceived as risk factors for uncooperative self-control failures, impeding people's ability to resist the short-term temptations naturally conflicting with cooperative motivations.

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“…Having a measure that captures goal-relevant shared reality assesses whether participants and IOs share reality about goal-relevant tactics, which could be important for goal success. In addition, a measure that captures ideological shared reality assesses whether participants and their IOs are on the same page about foundational moral commitments—commitments that shape what goals people value and effortfully pursue (Gai & Bhattacharjee, 2022; McCullough & Carter, 2013). Measuring shared ideological reality is important since people are highly attentive to moral beliefs in relationship contexts (Launay & Dunbar, 2015; Nicolas et al, 2022).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

In it together: Shared reality with instrumental others is linked to goal success.

Elnakouri

Rossignac-Milon

Krueger

et al. 2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Why are some people more successful than others? In addition to individual factors (e.g. self-control), research has recently suggested that the quality of people's interpersonal relationships is crucial for success. Successful people do not just like and feel close to instrumental objects (e.g., study material, the gym), they also like and feel close to instrumental others (IOs; people who make goal success more likely). Yet instrumental people have one crucially distinct feature that instrumental objects do not: A mind of their own. We propose that while a growing body of work suggests that the sense of closeness to IOs (others who make goal success more likely) is crucial for goal success, prior work has not examined how the sense of the quality of people's relationships with IOs, and therefore goal success, likely depends on their ability to "merge minds" with them, experiencing both the goal and the world at large (i.e., shared reality) in the same way as one's IO contributes to goal success. Specifically, the present research (N = 1,326) explored (a) whether people experience shared reality-the perception of shared attitudes and judgments about the world-with IOs and (b) whether those who do so achieve greater goal success. Participants perceiving their romantic partner as instrumental for their goals experienced more shared reality with them (Study 1); participants also reported greater shared reality with IOs relative to noninstrumental others (NIO; Study 2). Higher shared reality with IOs was linked to more goal success initially, (Studies 2-4), 3-4 weeks later (Study 2c), and higher grade point averages (Study 4). These effects held when controlling for IO liking, closeness, epistemic trust, and NIO shared reality. Self-efficacy consistently mediated the effect of IO shared reality on goal success, indicating that IO shared reality may bolster people's epistemic confidence in their abilities. Overall, findings suggest that shared reality with IOs may play an important role in goal success.

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Willpower as moral ability.

Cited by 9 publications

References 31 publications

When is sensory consumption immoral?

When is sensory consumption immoral?

Moral disciplining: The cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality

In it together: Shared reality with instrumental others is linked to goal success.

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