Moral Elevation Research Articles

Elevating nature: Moral elevation increases feelings of connectedness to nature

Moral elevation is a self-transcendent positive emotion arising from appraisals of moral excellence, which induces feelings of connectedness to other humans. However, no previous published research has investigated whether the effects of moral elevation extend to facilitate feelings of connection with the natural world. In two studies (Ns = 96 and 232), feelings of connectedness to nature were higher in people exposed to a moral elevation induction compared to a control condition. These effects were mediated by the extent to which participants reported experiencing self-transcendent positive emotions. Although Study 2 found significant indirect effects of elevation through self-transcendent positive emotions and connectedness to nature on measures of pro-environmental intentions, neither study found significant total effects of the elevation condition on these outcomes. Overall, the present studies provide preliminary evidence that inducing moral elevation increases feelings of connectedness to nature but mixed evidence regarding whether it increases immediate intentions to protect nature. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Moral Elevation and Economic Games: The Moderating Role of Personality.

Moral elevation is the prototypical emotional response when witnessing virtuous deeds of others. Yet, little is known about the role of individual differences that moderate the susceptibility to experiencing this self-transcendent emotion. The present experiment investigated the role of personality traits as moderators of elevation and its behavioral effects using economic games as a measure for prosocial behavior. One aim was to replicate prior findings on trait Engagement with Moral Beauty as moderator for experimentally induced state elevation. A second aim was to explore new potential moderators that were found to be connected to the moral realm: Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness vs. Anger, and Need for Cognition. Third, the present study is among the few investigating the effects of elevation on different prosocial actions and intentions. A sample of US American college students (N = 144) was randomly assigned to either watch a morally uplifting or a humorous video clip. Afterwards, all participants played a dictator game and an ultimatum game, and were asked to volunteer in another time-consuming experiment. In line with our hypotheses, experimentally induced state elevation promoted prosocial behavior, however, only within the dictator game. Also in line with our hypotheses, higher levels of Need for Cognition and higher levels of Engagement with Moral Beauty (but not higher levels of Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness vs. Anger) increased prosocial behavior within the experimental group. In contrast to our hypotheses, none of the investigated personality traits moderated the proneness to experience the state of elevation after seeing an elevating video clip; only the behavioral consequences of elevation were moderated. Our results replicate and extend prior findings on moderators for elevation and exemplify the importance of investigating the role of personality traits in the context of the moral elevation phenomenon.

Pilot Study Testing a Web-Based Moral Elevation Intervention for Veterans With PTSD and Moral Injury

Pilot Study Testing a Web-Based Moral Elevation Intervention for Veterans With PTSD and Moral Injury

How Consistent Contributors Inspire Individuals to Cooperate: The Role of Moral Elevation and Social Value Orientation

Achieving cooperation to address social dilemmas has long been a global problem. This study examined, using an environment-focused step-level public-goods-dilemma game, the effect a consistent contributor (CC) has on group cooperation, as well as the mediating role moral elevation and the moderating role social value orientation (SVO) play in this process. A total of 196 students were recruited and classified as “pro-selfs” or “pro-socials” based on their SVOs; individuals with the same SVO characterization were randomly allocated to groups of four, and then randomly assigned to the CC condition or the control condition to play 15 rounds of public-goods-dilemma games. In the CC condition, additional computer-controlled players represented the CCs. The results showed that the CC groups cooperated and earned more than the control groups did. Multi-level mediation analysis confirmed that moral elevation partially mediates the CC effect. Although the CCs had a direct impact on both pro-socials and pro-selfs, multi-level moderated-mediation analysis demonstrated that CCs influenced pro-socials directly, but affected pro-selfs’ decision-making indirectly, through moral elevation. This study contributes to a better understanding of sustainability of cooperation in social dilemmas by showing that consistent cooperative behaviors are contagious, and that their effects differ based on an individuals’ SVO.

Les Mots et les choses du théâtre: France, Italie, Espagne, xvie–xviie siècles. Sous la direction d’Anne Cayeula et Marc Vuillermoz

The present volume is a careful and complex interweaving of a number of critical concepts in theatre studies, examined from interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives. It gathers together seventeen articles first presented in 2015 at the international conference ‘Les Mots et les choses du théâtre’, itself a corollary of the major project Les Idées du théâtre, which interrogates liminary dramatic material in France, Italy, and Spain across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Les Idées du théâtre has also produced an extensive online collection of theatrical paratexts (<www.idt.paris-sorbonne.fr> [accessed 4 February 2019]), widely celebrated as a valuable research tool, and the articles assembled in this volume are a testament to the possibilities presented by this project and database. Bringing together wide-ranging and lucid insights into early modern and Golden Age drama in France, Italy, and Spain, it sets out with great erudition and clarity the reciprocal relationship between ‘mots’ and ‘choses’ in theatre, also making a convincing case for greater scholarly attention to be paid to the dramatic paratext. Although the arguments proposed in this collection are dense and largely interconnected, the volume is structured into five sections, which renders it more easily accessible to the general reader and to specialists in search of precise material. The first section focuses on the dramatic author and incorporates detailed studies of theatrical lexis: the term ‘travail’, for instance, is investigated and contextualized within dramatic culture; the power and significance of metaphor in liminary material is also considered in relation to the playwright. The second section moves on to aesthetics and dramaturgy and brings out more strongly the Foucauldian link between ‘mots’ and ‘choses’ in theatre: here, a particularly engaging article by Enrica Zanin traces frameworks of theatrical vocabulary in the earliest French, Italian, and Spanish dictionaries, drawing fascinating parallels with the reality of the practices denoted by this vocabulary. Turning to dramatic genres, the third section re-assesses the process of identifying a play with a genre and uses paratexts to explore how such classification can influence, undermine, or enhance the public understanding and reception of a comedy. The fourth section centres on actors and characters, presenting some innovative work on the often overlooked tension between author and performer; a further concern in this cluster is the French imitation of Italian comic stock types, frequently employed to political and polemical ends. The final section focuses on reception and evaluates the nature and impact of dramatic theory and the prologue in France, Italy, and Spain, also taking stock of the language of laughter and moral elevation in theatrical comic paratexts. Together these sections form a rich and productive discussion not only of theatrical practices in three countries which led the way for dramatic culture, but also of lexical, ideological, and transnational exchange across the centuries in question. This volume makes a substantial contribution to theatre studies and scholars of drama and of comparative literature will find it an exciting and insightful read.

محاسبة النفس عند الإمام الحارث المحاسبی

The present research aims at throwing a revealing light on the importance attached to holding the human soul responsible for its own action as an attempt to teach a human being how to practice the utmost degree of self constraint practice the utmost degree of self constraint and stick to the rules of good behavior through strict adherence to the religious teachings of the holy Koran and the prophets mode of life (i.e prophetic sunnah teachings). The present study showed that Harith El Mohasibi stressed the importance of holding the human soul accountable and responsible for its own actions and responsible for its won actions and guiding it to the right path leading to moral perfection. This can only be achieved by suppressing our animal desires controlling our instincts and appetites and showing our fear of God. The moral elevation and sublimation of a human soul lies in its account ability before God for its own action for God punishes man for his evil deeds and rewords him for the good ones in Iman El Mohabi's opinion good intention is the basis upon which we can judge good deeds, so moral reform starts with the psychological remedy of oneself. Man should purge his soul from evil, hatred and drudgery first before hoping to reach a state of bodily perfection. In doing so man can transcend to the higost degree of moral sublimation and become a prefect soul in whose heart lies deep the true and honest religious and moral teachings of Islam. Accordingly Iman El Mohasbi is a great thinker who puts a remarkable theory of morality which makes the mind the only basis upon which man can differ between good and bad. For him mind comes in the third place after the holy Koran and sunnah (i.e prophetic of life) as the main source of moral obligation. Moreover Iman EL Mohasbi urged that we can only Judge our actions based upon moral conscience.

Benefits of Moral Elevation in Veterans with PTSD and Moral Injury: A Proposed Theoretical Framework and Pilot Study

Given the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury in veterans and limitations to current treatments, novel approaches are needed to target both PTSD and moral injury and directly impact psychosocial growth. One potential way to address this need is through moral elevation—a positive emotional state described as feeling uplifted and inspired by others’ virtuous actions. This article proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how elevation could benefit veterans and presents preliminary findings from a pilot study, which provides the first known indication that elevation could be linked with psychological health and social functioning in veterans with significant trauma-related distress.

CREATIVE IMAGINATION, TRAGIC-POETIC ART AND EDUCATION OF SENSIBILITIES

This article aims to discuss about how creative imagination, tragic art and the education of sensibilities provides images of dreams of flying, ascension and freedom, contributing to the understanding of a poetic education of the child and the adult. The aesthetics of the poems and the literary lessons attest that art educates the sensibilities. We recognize this in Bachelard when he approaches the education-poetics in childhood and in the tragic-poetic art of Nietzsche, according to The Birth of Tragedy and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In these works, the images are full of dreams of freedom represented in the ascents to the mountain summit, in the pure air breath and in the contemplation of aerial landscapes, which enables the individual -from a privileged position - to become a lover of life, who refuses its heavy side, its dark elements, the melancholy atmosphere, the disseminated Greek serenity. The heights, the silence against the crowd and the noise, as well as "states of soul" - in Bachelard's vision and analysis of the work "Thus spoke Zarathustra" - are at the same time exalted and reveals the dreams of freedom, of ascension and moral elevation.&#x0D; Keywords: Culture. Poetic Education. Aesthetics. Bachelard. Nietzsche.

道德提升感：一种提升道德情操的积极道德情绪

道德提升感：一种提升道德情操的积极道德情绪

" Scattered Anime Fragments Collected ": Love Poetry and Augustinian Morality in The Secretum and The Canzoniere

The issue of poetry's intrinsic value is no stranger to the internal tensions of Petrarch's thought. Although Petrarch defends poetry as a means of accessing Truth, itself the source of moral elevation, vulgar poetry cannot, for him, play the same role. In the third day of the Secretum, he uses an Augustinian moral framework to condemn love poetry. This censure, which appears to be categorical, does not explain why he would continue to compose and organize his Canzoniere until the end of his life. However, by studying the narrative structure of the text and certain compositions which give structure to the collection of poems, a response can be formulated which reconciles these verses with Augustinian morality.&#x0D;

How Can Prosocial Behavior Be Motivated? The Different Roles of Moral Judgment, Moral Elevation, and Moral Identity Among the Young Chinese.

Prior research has shown that moral judgment, moral elevation, and moral identity contribute to prosocial behavior. However, how these three motivating factors interact in predicting prosocial behaviors is not yet clear. The current study proposed and examined a moderated mediation model to illustrate the specific process of how prosocial behavior is motivated by these factors. A total of 264 Chinese undergraduate and graduate students participated in the present study (140 females; age range 17–26, M = 20.25, SD = 1.57). Moral judgment competence, intensity of moral elevation, and moral identity were measured by self-reported scales, and the tendency to engage in prosocial behavior was assessed in a simulated “Ask for help” situation. The multiple regressive results showed that moral elevation mediated the effect of moral judgment on prosocial behavior, and moral identity moderated this mediation through interacting with moral elevation. However, within the proposed model, the mediating effect of moral elevation was stronger in women than in men, while the moderating role of moral identity appeared only in women. These findings imply different methods for men and women to enhance their prosocial behaviors, including the need to pay more attention to developing moral reasoning in men while putting more emphasis on evoking moral emotion and moral traits in women. Together, these results supported the assumptive model and provided a comprehensive framework to explain prosocial behaviors.

The role of consequences of moral action in maximizing moral elevation

Moral elevation is described as a state of positive emotion that includes uplifting feelings, positive views of humanity and a desire to be a better person. Numerous empirical studies have demonstrated that elevation has powerful effects on people’s moral intention and behavior. The next step is to investigate how to maximize the emotion of elevation. According to the evolution of moral elevation research and the theory of moral disgust, we hypothesized that the consequences of moral action would influence moral elevation. The results of two studies in the present research (Study 1: N = 122, average age = 36.96 years; Study 2: N = 232, average age = 23.93 years) demonstrated that moral acts with good consequences were more effective in inducing moral elevation than moral acts with bad consequences. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

" Scattered Anime Fragments Collected ": Love Poetry and Augustinian Morality in The Secretum and The Canzoniere

The issue of poetry's intrinsic value is no stranger to the internal tensions of Petrarch's thought. Although Petrarch defends poetry as a means of accessing Truth, itself the source of moral elevation, vulgar poetry cannot, for him, play the same role. In the third day of the Secretum, he uses an Augustinian moral framework to condemn love poetry. This censure, which appears to be categorical, does not explain why he would continue to compose and organize his Canzoniere until the end of his life. However, by studying the narrative structure of the text and certain compositions which give structure to the collection of poems, a response can be formulated which reconciles these verses with Augustinian morality.

Moral elevation and compassionate goals predict posttraumatic growth in the context of a college shooting

After a mass shooting, community members may experience not only distress, but also feeling uplifted or morally elevated by others’ prosocial responses to the trauma. Those experiencing elevation may be more likely to strive to support others (compassionate goals) and to endorse posttraumatic growth (PTG). However, the role of elevation in PTG, and the relative contribution of compassionate goals (both from and toward others), remains unknown. Students, faculty, and staff (N = 385) completed measures four months after a campus shooting, and a subset repeated measures at eight months (n = 82). As expected, compassionate goals toward others incrementally predicted higher PTG beyond perceptions of compassionate goals from others. Also, elevation concurrently and prospectively predicted higher PTG. Lastly, elevation mediated effects of others’ compassionate goals on PTG, as hypothesized (95% CI = 2.59 to 5.43). These findings have implications for understanding the social and emotional processes that facilitate PTG.

The role of gratitude and moral elevation in moral identity development

Experiencing the moral emotions of gratitude and moral elevation are responses to witnessing virtuous deeds of others. Both emotions have been found to share similar features and behavioral consequences, including the stimulation of personal development. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions indicates that gratitude and elevation prompt the long-term development of lasting resources. Moral identity has been found to be a personal resource in the moral domain since it is associated with higher levels of moral functioning. Therefore, using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design, the current study investigated the causal role of trait gratitude and trait elevation as antecedents of short-term moral identity development. At two points of time (time interval 17 months), a heterogeneous sample of n = 129 adults with a broad range of age completed measures of trait gratitude, trait moral elevation (engagement with moral beauty), and moral identity (internalization and symbolization of the Aquino–Reed framework). In line with our hypotheses, trait moral elevation predicted increases in moral identity internalization. In contrast to our hypotheses, the development of trait gratitude was predicted by moral identity internalization, and not the other way around. Exploratory analyses showed that no cross-lagged effects could be found for the symbolization dimension. In addition, a multi-group analysis explored which of the cross-lagged effects could be generalized across age groups. The results are discussed in the context of the moral emotion research.

Viral videos and virtue: Moral elevation inductions shift affect and interpersonal goals in daily life

Laboratory studies suggest that witnessing virtuous acts triggers moral elevation, an emotion characterized by feeling uplifted and increased prosocial motives. However, it remains unknown whether regular inductions can increase elevation and prosocial motives in daily life without being vulnerable to habituation or adaptation effects. Participants (total N = 181) were randomly assigned to elevating vs. neutral or amusing inductions (video or recall tasks) for seven days (Study 1), ten days (Study 2), or 12 days over one month (Study 3). Multilevel growth models showed that relative to comparison conditions, elevation inductions increased daily elevation, positive affect, and prosocial outcomes (compassionate goals and affiliation), and decreased self-protective motives (self-image goals). Adaptation effects occurred for immediate responses when exercises occurred daily, but not when spaced out over time, and not for outcomes measured later each day. Results suggest benefits of brief, regular elevation experiences and have implications for interventions targeting specific emotions.

The Mediating Role of Moral Elevation in Cause-Related Marketing: A Moral Psychological Perspective

With the high frequency and intensity of worldwide disasters, cause-related marketing campaigns with sudden disasters are becoming increasingly popular. However, little is known about whether and how cause acuteness may influence consumer attitudes. This research aims to extend this research area through investigating the relationship between cause acuteness and consumer attitudes toward the product, as well as its underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. Based on a moral psychology perspective, we propose a theoretical model focusing on the mediating role of moral elevation in influencing consumer attitudes. This model also incorporates product-cause fit and information transparency as moderators underpinning necessary conditions that are likely to lead to positive consumer attitudes. Four empirical studies were conducted to test our model. Our research results reveal that consumers have more positive attitudes toward the product associated with a sudden disaster than with an ongoing tragedy. Furthermore, the positive effect of cause acuteness on consumer attitudes is mediated by enhanced moral elevation, which occurs under the conditions of high product-cause fit and high information transparency.

From incidental harms to moral elevation: The positive effect of experiencing unintentional, uncontrollable, and unavoidable harms on perceived moral character

We contend that unintentional, uncontrollable, and unavoidable (i.e., incidental) hardships boost perceptions of volunteers' moral character because observers have a reflexive positive response to people who endure personal costs while serving others. Five experiments support this prediction. Participants judged a volunteer who suffered an incidental hardship (got stung by a bee, hit by a falling shingle, or unknowingly missed a fun opportunity while volunteering) to have greater moral character than a volunteer who did not experience these incidental hardships (Studies 1–4a). Observers' feelings of empathy emerged as a driver of this positive effect of incidental hardship on volunteers' perceived moral character (Studies 3 and 4a), and the prosociality of the target's activity (volunteering vs. not volunteering) moderated the effect (Study 2). A comparison of judgments in separate and joint evaluation contexts suggested that the effect is not due to a normative belief that volunteers should be praised for enduring incidental hardships (Studies 4a–4b). We address alternative explanations for the findings such as differences in the foreseeability of the hardship, task difficulty, and volunteers' perseverance. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of moral judgment and the processes by which people form impressions of others' positive moral character.

Elevation: A review of scholarship on a moral and other-praising emotion

The term elevation (also referred to as moral elevation), described by Thomas Jefferson and later coined by Jonathan Haidt, refers to the suite of feelings people may experience when witnessing an instance of moral beauty. The construct of elevation signifies the emotion felt when a person is a witness to, but not a recipient of, the moral behavior of others. Scholarship examining elevation has burgeoned since Haidt first introduced the construct. Researchers have explored the antecedents of, and outcomes associated with, witnessing instances of moral beauty. The current review will outline the existing scholarship on elevation, highlight conflicting findings, point out critical gaps in the current state of elevation research, and delineate fertile future directions for basic and applied research. Continued investigation of the affective, motivational, and behavioral responses associated with witnessing virtuous actions of others is warranted.

Moral Elevation and Moral Beauty: A Review of the Empirical Literature

Moral elevation is defined as the emotional response to witnessing acts of moral beauty. Studies have found that elevation entails pleasant feelings of warmth in the chest, feeling uplifted, moved, and optimistic about humanity. Elevation motivates affiliation with others as well as moral action tendencies. The main goal of this review was to gather and organize the empirical findings from the last 16 years of elevation research with regard to psychological and physiological characteristics, motivational tendencies, behavioral outcomes, neuronal mechanisms, moderators, and correlates of elevation. A secondary goal was to examine whether elevation is congruent with Fredrickson's (2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. It was concluded that there is strong evidence that elevation broadens the thought-action repertoire and relatively weak evidence that it builds lasting resources. Potential evolutionary functions, the forms of measurement of elevation, the process of how elevation is triggered, practical applications and directions for future research were also addressed.