When the ones we love misbehave
Exploring moral processes within intimate bonds
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6200580 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel C Forbes (0000-0001-9070-0606, University of Toronto), Jennifer E Stellar (0000-0001-7753-6637, University of Toronto) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 122 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 16-33 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/pspa0000272 |
| PMID | 34323530 |
| OpenAlex | W2901861096 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
| References cited | 71 |
How do we react when our romantic partners, friends, or family members behave unethically? When close others misbehave, it generates a powerful conflict between observers' moral values and their cherished relationships. Previous research has almost exclusively studied moral perception in a social vacuum by investigating responses to the transgressions of strangers; therefore, little is known about how these responses unfold in the context of intimate bonds. Here we systematically examine the impact of having a close relationship with a transgressor on perceptions of that transgressor, the relationship, and the self. We predicted less negative emotional and evaluative responses to transgressors and smaller consequences for the relationship, yet more negative emotional and evaluative responses to the self when close others, compared with strangers or acquaintances, transgress. Participants read hypothetical wrongdoings (Study 1), recalled unethical events (Study 2), reported daily transgressions (Study 3; preregistered), and learned of novel immoral behavior (Study 4) committed by close others or comparison groups. Participants reported less other-critical emotions, more lenient moral evaluations, a reduced desire to punish/criticize, and a smaller impact on the relationship (compared with acquaintances) when close others versus strangers or acquaintances transgressed. Simultaneously, participants reported more self-conscious emotions and showed some evidence of harsher moral self-evaluations when close others transgressed. Underlying mechanisms of this process were examined. Our findings demonstrate the deep ambivalence in reacting to close others' unethical behaviors, revealing a surprising irony-in protecting close others, the self may bear some of the burden of their misbehavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Ambivalence · Context (archaeology) · Developmental psychology · Impression formation · Morality · Perception · Psychoanalysis · PsycINFO · Romance · Social perception · Cultural Differences and Values · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
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Moral Judgment as Categorization (MJAC)
Law and order
Does it matter who harmed whom? A cross-cultural study of moral judgments about harm by and to insiders and outsiders
The others are harassers, but my loved ones are not
Doing good because others do bad
Organizational Top Dog (vs. Underdog) Narratives Increase the Punishment of Corporate Moral Transgressions
When the Punisher is Both Potential Victim and (Intended) Beneficiary
The Preference for Unsolicited Advice
The More the Merrier
Who attributes what to whom? Moral values and relational context shape causal attribution to the person or the situation
Parents as Co-Perpetrators
Power as a moral magnifier
The Relational Nature of Punishment
Co-offender dynamics and relational distance
In-group favoritism or black sheep effect? The moderating role of norm strength on destination residents’ responses towards deviant behaviors
Humanizing the Transgressor, Dehumanizing the Victim
Moral Rationalization and the Integration of Situational Factors and Psychological Processes in Immoral Behavior
Averaging versus adding as a stimulus-combination rule in impression formation.
Social perception and phenomenal causality.
An R 2 statistic for fixed effects in the linear mixed model
Disgust as Embodied Moral Judgment
On the Failure to Eliminate Hypotheses in a Conceptual Task
Asymmetry in Judgments of Moral Blame and Praise
The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness
Pushing moral buttons
The relational self
Vicarious dishonesty
Punishment in animal societies
Inside the Turk
False-Positive Psychology
Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations
The psychology of interpersonal relations.
The Importance of Context in Moral Judgments
Me or Us? Self-Control Promotes a Healthy Balance Between Personal and Relationship Concerns
The Corruption of Value
The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior
Punishment allows the evolution of cooperation (or anything else) in sizable groups
Why Individuals Protest the Perceived Transgressions of Their Country
The Social Self
The Investment Model Scale
Emotion regulation and vulnerability to depression
Protecting the Ingroup
Vicarious Shame and Guilt
The “Black Sheep Effect”
Rage and reason
Emotion and Moral Judgment
Group virtue
Vicarious moral licensing
Moral character predominates in person perception and evaluation
An association between biased impression updating and relationship facilitation
Intragroup dissonance
Causal deviance and the attribution of moral responsibility
Revenge without responsibility? Judgments about collective punishment in baseball
Commitment and satisfaction in romantic associations
The totalitarian ego
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
Close relationships as including other in the self
Motivated recruitment of autobiographical memories
Moral credentials and the expression of prejudice
The (mental) ties that bind
A longitudinal test of the investment model
The benefits of positive illusions
The dissolution of romantic relationships
Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness
Defensive attribution
The virtues of gossip
Guilty by association
The attribution of morality
Assimilation for Affiliation and Contrast for Control
Love and the commitment problem in romantic relations and friendship
The paradox of group-based guilt
Moral typecasting
Seeing virtues in faults
Nuestra culpa
The Relationship Closeness Inventory
Accommodation processes in close relationships
Measuring up
Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor
Hypnotic Disgust Makes Moral Judgments More Severe
The case for motivated reasoning
Downward comparison principles in social psychology
The need to belong
Illusion and well-being
For better or worse
The Contagion Concept in Adult Thinking in the United States
| Unique citing works | 17 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |