Beyond Altruism

Identity‐Construction as Moral Motive in Political Explanation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6336972
AutoresNathan Teske (University of Miami, autor de correspondencia)
Año1997
Volumen18
Número1
Páginas71-91
Fecha de publicación1997-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitical Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0162-895X • E-ISSN: 1467-9221
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/0162-895x.00045
OpenAlexW1979326624
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas23

This article explores conceptual issues pertaining to the role of moral motivation in political explanation. Employing data drawn from long interview with political activists from across the spectrum of American politics, I criticize both rational actor models and so‐called “dual” motivational theories, that focus on altruism as the primary moral motive in politics, in contrast to the narrow focus on a certain conception of self‐interest. Against both of these approaches, I offer an identity‐construction approach to moral motives in politics. This model focuses on the complex interweaving of self and moral motives, and in particular focuses on the concerns political activists have for what kind of person they are and what kind of life they are living. These types of concerns are both moral and self‐regarding, and therefore defy the dichotomy between self‐ and other‐regarding at the heart of both rational actor and “dual” motivation accounts of moral motives

Aesthetics · Altruism (biology · Dual (grammatical number · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Identity (music · Moral disengagement · Political science · Politics · Social cognitive theory of morality · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology