Doing Good Leads to More Good: The Reinforcing Power of a Moral Self-Concept

• Published in: Review of philosophy and psychology Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 325 - 334
• Main Authors: Young, Liane, Chakroff, Alek, Tom, Jessica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.09.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Donations; Education; Epistemology; Neurosciences; Philosophy; Philosophy of Mind; Philosophy of Science; Self esteem; Moral Reinforcement; Good Deed; Moral Behavior; Actual Donation; Charitable Donation
• ISSN: 1878-5158; 1878-5166
• DOI: 10.1007/s13164-012-0111-6

What is the role of self-concept in motivating moral behavior? On one account, when people are primed to perceive themselves as “do-gooders”, conscious access to this positive self-concept will reinforce good behavior. On an alternative account, when people are reminded that they have done their “good deed for the day”, they will feel licensed to behave worse. In the current study, when participants were asked to recall their own good deeds (positive self-concept), their subsequent charitable donations were nearly twice that of participants who recalled bad deeds, or recent conversation topics, consistent with an account of moral reinforcement. In addition, among participants reporting good deeds, those who did not note whether they were recognized or unrecognized by other people donated significantly more than participants who took note of others’ responses. In sum, when people are primed to see themselves as good people, who do good for goodness’ sake, not to obtain public credit, they may be motivated to do more good.