Is Doing Good Good Enough? A Motivation, Action, Sacrifice, and Temptation (Mast) View of Moral Praiseworthiness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21453884 |
|---|---|
| Authors | R Michael Furr (0000-0002-4476-1907, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA, corresponding author), Mike Prentice (0000-0001-7852-075X, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA), Ashley Hawkins Parham (Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA), Anselma G Hartley (Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA), William Fleeson (0000-0001-8033-6863, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 227-242 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0146-1672 • E-ISSN: 1552-7433 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01461672241273243 |
| PMID | 39275980 |
| OpenAlex | W4402540932 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
We present the Motivation, Action, Sacrifice, and Temptation (MAST) view of moral praiseworthiness and evaluate four components shaping judgments of an actor’s morality: (a) How did the person act? (b) Why did the person act? (c) Did the person sacrifice something when acting? and (d) Was the person tempted to avoid the sacrifice? Across multiple moral domains, we evaluate moral impressions of hypothetical actors who acted ostensibly morally under different motivational, sacrificial, and temptational conditions. Across four studies (total N > 1,200) and 150 morally relevant scenarios, all components shaped moral impressions, with motivational purity having the strongest impact. Exploring motivation more deeply via Self-Determination Theory, we found effects of internalized (vs. externalized) motivations. Broadly speaking, judges prefer actors to act automatically and in an idealized manner rather than with deliberation and effort. This work address questions that have fascinated philosophers, psychologists, and laypeople, advancing understanding of moral impression formation
Action (physics) · Deliberation · Epistemology · Moral disengagement · Moral psychology · Morality · Political science · Sacrifice · Temptation · Ethics in Business and Education · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
Intelligent Virtue
Evaluating the Dimensionality of Self-Determination Theory’s Relative Autonomy Continuum
Moral Character in Person Perception
Behavioral Confirmation of Everyday Sadism
Asymmetry in Judgments of Moral Blame and Praise
Why being morally virtuous enhances well-being
How Quick Decisions Illuminate Moral Character
Morality’s Centrality to Liking, Respecting, and Understanding Others
On the Dominance of Moral Categories in Impression Formation
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being
It’s the motive that counts
Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods
Discipline and desire
Beyond the Turk
Good deeds gone bad
No good deed goes unquestioned
Kant on Virtue
Moral personality of brave and caring exemplars
| Highly cited | No |
|---|