How Upward Moral Comparison Influences Prosocial Behavioral Intention: Examining the Mediating Role of Guilt and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity

The Influence of Message Framing on Residents' Waste Separation Willingness-The Mediating Role of Moral Identity

With serious environmental problems increasing, waste separation has drawn much attention. Message framing is an important way to popularize separation knowledge and increase people’s separation willingness. Message framing was classified into positive and negative frames in this study, and then based on moral identity theory from the social cognitive perspective, two dimensions of moral identity were introduced as mediating variables to construct a mechanism model of the influence of message framing on waste separation willingness. After a comparative study of three groups of subjects (N = 604), the following conclusions were drawn: (1) message framing positively influenced moral identity and waste separation willingness; (2) both positive and negative message framing positively influenced waste separation willingness through the partial mediating role of moral identity symbolization and internalization; and (3) the mediating role of symbolization was stronger in the effect of positive message framing on waste separation willingness, while the mediating role of internalization was stronger in the effect of negative message framing on waste separation willingness. The findings provide significant information for organizations to effectively carry out message strategies.

Jab my arm, not my morality: Perceived moral reproach as a barrier to COVID-19 vaccine uptake

Background

Vaccinating the public against COVID-19 is critical for pandemic recovery, yet a large proportion of people remain unwilling to get vaccinated. Beyond known factors like perceived vaccine safety or COVID-19 risk, an overlooked sentiment contributing to vaccine hesitancy may rest in moral cognition. Specifically, we theorize that a factor fueling hesitancy is perceived moral reproach: the feeling, among unvaccinated people, that vaccinated people are judging them as immoral.

Approach

Through a highly powered, preregistered study of unvaccinated U.S. adults (N = 832), we found that greater perceived moral reproach independently predicted stronger refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, over and above other relevant variables. Of 18 predictors tested, perceived moral reproach was the fifth strongest—stronger than perceived risk of COVID-19, underlying health conditions status, and trust in scientists.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that considering the intersections of morality and upward social comparison may help to explain vaccine hesitancy.

Influence of urban residents' life satisfaction on prosocial behavioral intentions in the community: A multiple mediation model

Prosocial behavior is a category of acts that benefits other people and society. However, previous researchers have paid little attention to the study of community prosocial behavior. Accordingly, the present study adopts multiple mediation analysis to investigate how urban residents' life satisfaction influences their prosocial behavioral intentions in the community. This study collects data from an online survey of Chinese urban residents (N = 765) using self-administered questionnaires. Results show the following: (1) a positive association exists between urban residents' life satisfaction and their community prosocial behavioral intentions; (2) multiple mediation analysis reveals that orientation to meaning life, perception of virtuous humanity, and cognitive reappraisal mediated the relationship between urban residents' life satisfaction and prosocial behavioral intentions. These findings suggest that urban residents' life satisfaction may facilitate their community prosocial behavioral intentions via high levels of orientation to meaning life, perception of virtuous humanity, and cognitive reappraisal. This study also discusses certain contributions and limitations.

Linking Moral Identity With Moral Emotions: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between moral identity and moral emotions drawing on 57 independent studies. Moral identity was significantly associated with moral emotions, r = .32, p < .01, 95% confidence interval [CI: .27, .36]. Effect sizes were moderated by the type of moral emotion. Studies reporting other-regarding emotions (sympathy, empathy, and compassion) had the largest effect sizes ( r = .41), while negative other-evaluative emotions (moral anger, contempt, and disgust) had the smallest ( r = .16). Self-evaluative and other-evaluative positive emotions had intermediate effect sizes ( r values between .29 and .32). The type of emotion measure also was a significant moderator, with trait measures of emotion ( r = .38) correlating more strongly with moral identity than state measures ( r = .24). Effect sizes did not differ for the type of moral identity measure being used, publication status, or cultural origin of the study sample. The results of this meta-analysis demonstrate a robust empirical connection between moral identity and moral emotions, which confirms the multifaceted role of moral identity in moral functioning.

Honesty-humility and prosocial behavior: The mediating roles of perspective taking and guilt-proneness

The prosocial personality trait of honesty-humility has received extensive attention in the last decade. However, research on the mechanism underlying the relationship between honesty-humility and prosocial behavior is rather scarce. This study aims to explore the internal mechanism underlying this relationship to draw a complete picture of the honesty-humility trait. A sample of 458 Chinese young adults was obtained to complete self-report measures of honesty-humility, perspective taking, guilt-proneness, and prosocial behavior. The mediation model revealed that: (1) honesty-humility positively related to prosocial behavior; (2) perspective taking and guilt-proneness mediated the relationship between honesty-humility and prosocial behavior, separately; and (3) the effect of honesty-humility on prosocial behavior was mediated via perspective taking and then guilt-proneness. In conclusion, we provide an initial support for the mediating roles of perspective taking and guilt-proneness in the relationship between honesty-humility and prosocial behavior. Both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the psychological mechanisms of prosocial behavior are discussed.