48 research outputs found
Why do people (not) share guilt with others?
Do people share their feelings of guilt with others and, if so, what are the reasons for doing this or not doing this? Even though the social sharing of negative emotional experiences, such as regret, has been extensively studied, not much is known about whether people share feelings of guilt and why. We report three studies exploring these questions. In Study 1, we re-analysed data about sharing guilt experiences posted on a social website called "Yahoo Answers", and found that people share intrapersonal as well as interpersonal guilt experiences with others online. Study 2 found that the main motivations of sharing guilt (compared with the sharing of regret) were "venting", "clarification and meaning", and "gaining advice". Study 3 found that people were more likely to share experiences of interpersonal guilt and more likely to keep experiences of intrapersonal guilt to themselves. Together, these studies contribute to a further understanding of the social sharing of the emotion guilt. </p
A culture of greed: Bubble formation in experimental asset markets with greedy and non-greedy traders
This study investigates the relationship between the motive of greed and various asset market indicators, such as trading activity and bubble formation (i.e., mispricing, overpricing, and price amplitude). We ran experimental asset markets that allowed us to measure individuals’ greed in order to create markets populated with greedy individuals and markets with non-greedy individuals. Regarding trading activity, we found that greedier individuals had higher trading activity on the individual level but not on the market level. On the market level, high-greed markets exhibited less frequent and smaller price bubbles than markets with less greedy traders. If our findings translate to actual markets, greed itself might not contribute to asset market bubbles
Greedy bastards:Testing the relationship between wanting more and unethical behavior
Greed is often seen as immoral. Although the assumption that greed elicits unethical behavior is widespread, there is surprisingly little empirical research testing this relationship. We present a series of three studies investigating the association between greed and unethical behavior, using different methodologies and samples from the USA, The Netherlands, and Belgium. Study 1 (3 samples, total N = 3413) reveals that more greedy individuals find a variety of transgressions more acceptable and justifiable as well as indicate that they have more often engaged in a variety of transgressions compared to less greedy individuals. Study 2 (N = 172) replicated these findings in an incentivized behavioral laboratory study where participants decided to accept a bribe or not. Greedy people were more likely to take a bribe and also preferred higher bribes. Study 3 (N = 302) examined a potential process relating greed to unethical behavior. Greedy people were more likely to transgress because they found the positive outcomes associated with the transgression more desirable, and therefore displayed lower self-control. Implications for general theories of greed and morality are discussed
The self and others in the experience of pride
Pride is seen as both a self-conscious emotion as well as a social emotion. These categories are not mutually exclusive, but have brought forth different ideas about pride as either revolving around the self or as revolving around one’s relationship with others. Current measures of pride do not include intrapersonal elements of pride experiences. Social comparisons, which often cause experiences of pride, contain three elements: the self, the relationship between the self and another person, and the other person. From the literature on pride, we distilled three related elements; perceptions and feelings of self-inflation, other-distancing, and other-devaluation. In four studies, we explored whether these elements were present in pride experiences. We did so at an implicit (Experiment 1; N = 218) and explicit level (Experiment 2; N = 125), in an academic setting with in vivo (Experiment 3; N = 203) and imagined pride experiences (Experiment 4; N = 126). The data consistently revealed that the experience of pride is characterised by self-inflation, not by other-distancing nor other-devaluation
The good, bad and ugly of dispositional greed
Greed is the insatiable desire for more. It is an important economic motive with numerous implications for consumer behavior and decision processes. We describe research showcasing the good, the bad and the ugly of dispositional greed. The good of greed refers to the potential advantageous consequences for society as a whole and for greedy people themselves. The bad of greed refers to the potential harm that it causes to others, and the ugliness of greed refers to the disadvantageous consequences of being greedy for the people themselves
Further tests of the scarcity and luxury hypotheses in dispositional greed: Evidence from two large-scale Dutch and American samples
A recent, large-scale study among Chinese adolescents found that childhood socioeconomic status (CSES) was positively related to dispositional greed (i.e., the “luxury hypothesis”), instead of negatively related (i.e., the “scarcity hypothesis”; Liu et al., 2019c). This relationship was found for only-children, not for children with siblings. The generalizability of these findings may be limited, due to China’s one-child policy and socioeconomic policies which may have led to fewer differences in wealth. We replicated this research in two other cultural contexts that represent markedly different socioeconomic policies in order to test its generalizability: the Netherlands (Study 1, N = 2367, 51.3% female, Mage = 54.06, SD = 17.90), and the USA (Study 2, N = 999, 50.1% female, Mage = 33.44, SD = 12.28). Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to test the association between CSES and greed. We mostly replicated the findings by Liu et al. (2019c): CSES was positively related to greed in both studies (“luxury hypothesis”) and there was a moderating effect of siblings in Study 1, but not in Study 2. Implications for theories on greed as well as future research on the association between CSES and greed are discussed
Further tests of the scarcity and luxury hypotheses in dispositional greed:Evidence from two large-scale Dutch and American samples
LISS panel > Pro-Social and Anti-Social Consequences of Guilt
This questionnaire examines whether parenthood affects the relation between guilt and pro-social behavior
An exploration of third parties’ preference for compensation over punishment:six experimental demonstrations
Research suggests that to restore equity, third parties prefer compensation of a victim over the punishment of a perpetrator. It remains unclear, however, whether this preference for compensation is stable or specific to certain situations. In six exper- imental studies, we find that adjustments in the characteristics of the situation or in the available behavioral options hardly modify the preference of compensation over punishment. This preference for compensation was found even in cases where pun- ishment might refrain a perpetrator from acting unfairly again in the future, and even when punishment has a greater impact in restoring equity than compensation does. Thus, the preference of compensation over punishment appears to be quite robust. Implications and ideas for future research are discussed