Virtue Discounting: Observability Reduces Moral Actors' Perceived Virtue.

ABSTRACT: Performing prosociality in public presents a paradox: only by doing so can people demonstrate their virtue and also influence others through their example, yet observers may derogate actors' behavior as mere "virtue signaling." Here we investigate the role of observability of actors' behavior as one reason that people engage in such "virtue discounting." Further, we investigate observers' motivational inferences as a mechanism of this effect, using the comparison of generosity and fairness as a case study among virtues. Across 14 studies (7 preregistered, total N = 9,360), we show that public actors are perceived as less virtuous than private actors, and that this effect is stronger for generosity compared to fairness (i.e., differential virtue discounting

SUBMITTER: Kraft-Todd GT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10449397 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature