Moral Identity Symbolization Research Articles

Does empathy promote helping by activating altruistic motivation or concern about social evaluation? A direct replication of Fultz et al. (1986).

When people experience empathy for a needy stranger, efforts to help are often not far behind. But does empathy actually cause prosocial behavior? And if so, does it activate genuine concern or more self-interested motivations? To rule out the alternative hypothesis that empathy motivates prosocial behavior by generating fear of social disapproval for acting selfishly, Fultz et al. (1986) manipulated empathy for a lonely stranger using perspective-taking instructions; they also manipulated whether subjects believed their decision to help would remain anonymous. However, Fultz et al. conducted their experiment decades ago, with few subjects, and before some potentially important cultural changes in college students' values and social lives. Here, in a preregistered replication with 280 undergraduates, we tested Fultz et al.'s key assertions. The perspective-taking and social evaluation manipulations influenced scores on the manipulation check measures mostly in theory-consistent ways but did not significantly influence helping. Consistent with theory, empathy was positively associated with prosocial behavior. We also found evidence that endorsement of the principle of care reflects genuine concern for needy strangers and that moral identity symbolization reflects a desire to help in order to avoid social disapproval. We consider these results a partially successful replication of key tenets of the empathy-altruism hypothesis, though questions remain about the conditions under which perspective-taking promotes prosocial behavior and about the generalizability of our findings to populations beyond undergraduate women circa 1986. Our results also help illuminate the motivational underpinnings of two individual differences that predicted prosocial behavior in previous research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Status Consumption Effect on Moral Identity - Sustainable Consumption Relationship: Bittersweet, or Bitter-Only?

This study aims to explore how moral identity is connected to sustainable consumption and investigate how status consumption might influence this relationship. While moral identity has been recognized as an influencer in shaping sustainable behavior, the exact relational dynamics and predictive power of its two scopes—internalization and symbolization—remain largely unclear. On the other hand, understanding how people, especially in developing countries, behave sustainably and cut back on unsustainable consumption, is under studied despite its crucial importance for the future of their economies. Using self-concept theory as the theoretical framework, this paper’s goal is to investigate how collectivist mindset as an actual-self affect moral identity internalization and symbolization and how moral identity impacts sustainable consumption curtailment and buying behaviors of Turkish consumers. Additionally, this investigation looked at the moderating effect of status consumption on the moral identity-sustainable consumption relationship. The findings indicate that collectivist mindset influences moral identity dimensions and these dimensions significantly affect sustainable consumption buying and curtailment behaviors. Furthermore, the findings also imply that status consumption weakens the relationship among moral identity and sustainable consumption dimensions except the connection between moral identity symbolization and sustainable consumption buying behavior.

Nonmonotonic effects of subjective social class on pro-environmental engagement

Addressing environmental challenges necessitates collaborative efforts from individuals with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. This article delves into the influence of social class on pro-environmental engagement, employing a comprehensive research approach involving five distinct studies. The investigations encompassed a national representative dataset (Study 1), an online survey (Study 2), and controlled experiments (Studies 3, 4a, & 4b). The consistent findings revealed an inverted-U class effect on pro-environmental engagement, indicating that individuals from the middle-class demonstrated a higher likelihood of engaging in pro-environmental behavior compared to both lower- and upper-class individuals. However, this effect only manifested in a particular form of pro-environmental engagement, namely easily observable good citizenship behavior. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms of this nonmonotonic relationship between social class and pro-environmental engagement, we turned to the middle-status anxiety hypothesis. As a result, moral identity symbolization emerged as a psychological foundation that could account for the observed effects. These novel findings contribute significantly to the existing research on environmental engagement and its connection to social class.

Doing good or looking good: how socially responsible human resource management practices influence employees' CSR-specific performance

PurposeThis study examines whether, how and when socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) practices increase employees' in-role and extra-role corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from 422 employees of 68 companies.FindingsSRHRM improves employees' in-role CSR-specific performance via impression management motivation and enhance extra-role CSR-specific performance via prosocial motivation. Moral identity symbolization strengthens the relationship between SRHRM and impression management motivation, and moral identity internalization reinforces the relationship between SRHRM and prosocial motivation. The authors also propose mediated moderation models.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that company can adopt SRHRM practices to improve employees' in-role and extra-role CSR-specific performance.Originality/valueThis study reveals how and when SRHRM practices influence employees' CSR-specific performance and sheds light on the social impacts of SRHRM.

How and When Perpetrators Reflect on and Respond to Their Workplace Ostracism Behavior: A Moral Cleansing Lens.

This study investigates the association between the previous workplace ostracism of employees and their subsequent helping behavior by drawing on moral cleansing theory in the Chinese context, exploring the mediating roles of employees' guilt and perceived loss of moral credit and the moderating role of their moral identity symbolization. The data were collected from a two-stage time-lagged survey of 284 Chinese employees. Regression analysis and the bootstrapping method are used in this article to examine the theoretical hypotheses. The results indicate that employees' previous ostracism behaviors positively affected their guilt experience and perceived loss of moral credit. Subsequently, the relationship between employees' workplace ostracism and their helping behavior is mediated by guilt experience and perceived loss of moral credit. Furthermore, moral identity symbolization positively moderated the indirect "workplace ostracism-helping behavior" linkage via guilt and perceived loss of moral credits; in other words, for employees who have a higher degree of moral identity symbolization, the mediating effect is more significant, and vice versa. This study does not merely clarify the theoretical relationship between perpetrators' workplace ostracism and their helping behavior, which enriches the explanatory logic of related research on workplace ostracism and the cause of helping behavior, but also expand the application scope of moral cleansing theory. Further, we aim practically to bring enlightenment to human resource management reform, corporate culture construction, and positive behavior management.

Perceived Ethical Climate and Unethical Behavior: The Moderating Role of Moral Identity

Unethical behavior in organizations results in significant negative outcomes, including financial impacts such as decreased shareholder value and profitability as well as non-financial impacts such as poor employee morale and reputation. This research empirically examines the moderating role of moral identity on the relation between ethical climate perceptions and unethical behavior as reflected by moral disengagement, unethical pro-organizational behavior, and ethical judgment. Moral identity was hypothesized to moderate the impact of ethical climate on unethical behavior such that higher levels of moral identity reduced the propensity to engage in unethical behavior in all ethical climate types. Moral identity internalization, but not moral identity symbolization, was found to have significant correlations with unethical behavior as well as the predicted moderating effects on the relationships between ethical climates and unethical behavior. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

The influence of moral identity on green consumption.

Existing studies show that moral identity promotes green consumption, but its influence mechanism and boundary conditions remain unidentified. However, moral identity includes internalization and symbolization, which affect green consumption in different ways. Advertising goal framing also has an impact on green consumption. Existing studies often focus on moral identity internalization but neglect the role of moral identity symbolization and fail to fully consider the interaction, mechanism, and boundary conditions between moral identity and advertising goal framing. This study assumes that advertising goal framing includes both intrinsic and extrinsic goals. We attempt to verify the combined influence of internalization and symbolization of moral identity, advertising goal framing, and moral awareness on green purchasing intention. Through two experiments, we found that: (1) the internalization and symbolization of moral identity can promote consumers’ green purchasing intention; (2) consumers with high internalization of moral identity have more positive responses to intrinsic goal advertising; (3) moral awareness can enhance the combined influence of moral identity internalization and intrinsic goal advertising on consumers’ green purchasing intention; and (4) self-consistency and social approval mediate the combined impact of moral identity and advertising goal framing on consumers’ green purchasing intention. This study enriches the literature on the influence of moral identity on green consumption. Businesses can also draw on these findings to improve the effectiveness of green marketing.

Morality Not Identified: Leader Moral Identity Symbolization and Follower Perceived Moral Hypocrisy

This article utilizes behavioral integrity theory to examine when and why leader moral identity symbolization might fail. Specifically, we propose a model wherein leader moral narcissism influences the relationship between leader moral identity symbolization and follower perceived moral hypocrisy, and the downstream implications for follower helping and deviant behaviors toward leader. We suggest that leader moral identity symbolization is particularly likely to be perceived as moral hypocrisy when leader hold a high level of moral narcissism, and that this perception of leader moral hypocrisy in turn reduces follower helping and increases follower deviant behaviors toward the leader. We test and find support for our hypothesized model using data from a multi-source, multi-wave survey. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.

The Influence of Message Framing on Residents' Waste Separation Willingness-The Mediating Role of Moral Identity.

With serious environmental problems increasing, waste separation has drawn much attention. Message framing is an important way to popularize separation knowledge and increase people’s separation willingness. Message framing was classified into positive and negative frames in this study, and then based on moral identity theory from the social cognitive perspective, two dimensions of moral identity were introduced as mediating variables to construct a mechanism model of the influence of message framing on waste separation willingness. After a comparative study of three groups of subjects (N = 604), the following conclusions were drawn: (1) message framing positively influenced moral identity and waste separation willingness; (2) both positive and negative message framing positively influenced waste separation willingness through the partial mediating role of moral identity symbolization and internalization; and (3) the mediating role of symbolization was stronger in the effect of positive message framing on waste separation willingness, while the mediating role of internalization was stronger in the effect of negative message framing on waste separation willingness. The findings provide significant information for organizations to effectively carry out message strategies.

To or not to adopt P2P accommodation: The traveler’s ethical decision-making

The objective of this study is to examine travelers’ intention to participate in peer-to-peer accommodation from an ethical perspective. An ethical decision-making model was proposed, based on Hunt–Vitell theory of ethics, moral identity theory, and Schwartz theory of human values, to examine the mechanism through which travelers’ personal values and moral identity (internationalization and symbolization) influence their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions toward peer-to-peer accommodation. Data was collected from 515 travelers who had participated in peer-to-peer accommodation within the last 12 months. The structural equation modeling results reveal that personal values affect moral identity dimensions, which in turn, positively influence ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Moral intensity also moderates the effect of moral identity internalization on ethical judgments. The results provide valuable insights for managers to promote the adoption of peer-to-peer accommodation as a responsible travel behavior. • Social-focused values positively influence moral identity internalization. • Social-focused values positively influence moral identity symbolization. • Self-enhancement negatively influences moral identity symbolization. • Moral identity internalization and symbolization positively influence ethical judgments. • Moral intensity moderates the effect of moral identity internalization on ethical judgments.

Moral licensing and corporate social responsibility: A systematic literature review and a research agenda

Moral licensing describes people’s sense of ethical entitlement to morally questionable behavior after they have previously exhibited socially desired behavior. The objective of this review is to examine the concept of moral licensing in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature. To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) covering the period from 2012 to 2021. First, our research explains why moral licensing is defined differently across CSR contexts. Second, we illustrate how CSR practices precede moral licensing and misconduct among top executives and employees (List & Momeni, 2021; Ormiston & Wong, 2013). Third, findings suggest that currently underexplored variables moderate the relationship between CSR and moral licensing, including the moral identity symbolization of CEOs and the style of CSR communication. Fourth, we suggest that very few studies have addressed these potentially negative effects of CSR. In conclusion, this review offers an initial overview on moral licensing, examines implications for practice, proposes extensions to existing theory, and sets an agenda for future research.

The effect of positive reciprocity in the relationship between college students' moral identity and moral behavior

We explored the mediating mechanism of positive reciprocity in the relationship between moral identity and moral behavior, using data obtained from a survey of 567 college students. The results indicate that moral identity internalization, moral identity symbolization, and overall moral identity were positively correlated with positive reciprocity and moral behavior. In addition, positive reciprocity was positively correlated with moral behavior. Further, moral identity internalization moderated the influence of moral identity symbolization on moral behavior, and this moderating effect was partially mediated by positive reciprocity. Specifically, the effect of moral identity symbolization on moral behavior through positive reciprocity was strong among individuals with higher moral identity internalization, but weak among individuals with lower moral identity internalization. Overall, the study findings reveal how moral identity affects moral behavior, which has implications for improving the structure of ideological and moral education in colleges and universities.

A Moral Cleansing Process: How and When Does Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior Increase Prohibitive and Promotive Voice.

In this study, we draw on moral cleansing theory to investigate the consequence of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) from the perspective of the actors. Specifically, we hypothesize that after conducting UPB, people may feel guilty and tend to cleanse their wrongdoings by providing suggestions or identifying problems at work (i.e., prohibitive and promotive voice). We further hypothesize that the above relationship is moderated by the actor’s moral identity symbolization. We conducted three studies, including experiment and surveys, to test our hypotheses. Results of these studies show consistent support to our hypotheses. In particular, individuals reported more felt guilt after conducting UPB, and they tended to compensate with more prohibitive and promotive voice subsequently. In addition, the indirect relationship from UPB acting to both voice behaviors via felt guilt was stronger for people with a high level of moral identity symbolization. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Smoking Behavior and Moral Identity in Malaysian Youth: Is Gender a Moderator or a Predictor?

The role of gender in psychosocial development and health outcome is undeniable. This study aims to investigate the role of gender in two conditions, whether it as a moderator to the link between moral identity (internalization and symbolization) and smoking behavior; or if it is a single predictor or a co-predictor with moral identity in predicting smoking behavior. To examine this, 388 youths (61% female) who met the inclusion criteria participated in this online cross-sectional study. Participants were asked to rate their emotional responses ranging from unpleasant to pleasant whilst viewing images of smoking behavior. Participants were also instructed to provide their socio-demographic information and fill in the Moral Identity Scale. Gender had no moderation effect on the link between moral identity (symbolization and internalization) and smoking behavior, instead, gender (whether alone or in combination with internalization) was shown to directly predict smoking behavior. The implications for social health interventions and programs are highlighted by the findings.

Heightening of moral identity: The role of mobile prosocial messages and presence

ABSTRACT This study investigated the relationship between prosocial messages, the degree of presence induced from different message types and the heightening effect of moral identity. A total of 96 students were pre-tested with a moral identity scale and assigned to three experiment groups and one control group. Each of the experiment groups was exposed to a series of prosocial messages designed with different message characteristics daily. After 9 days the participants were subjected to moral identity and presence measures. Overall, presence design is key to heightening moral identity. Prosocial messages heightened moral identity symbolization significantly in two of the experiment groups and as expected, no significant changes occurred in the control group. Picture with text (PT) and narrative text (NT) prosocial messages heightened moral identity symbolization more than short text (ST) prosocial messages. Perceived presence mediates the relation between the pre-moral identity symbolization and post-moral symbolization but not moral internalization.

Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve: Exploring Moral Identity as a Moderator Across CSR Authenticity, Consumer Admiration, and Engagement in the Fashion Industry

A rapidly shifting, hyper-sensitive modern fashion industry, coupled with an increasingly developing global environmental concern, has seen to an ever-imperative role for corporate social responsibility (CSR) to play in the successful operation of fashion companies. This study primarily investigates effective measures for successful CSR implementation in both corporate and consumer domains, looking at Patagonia, an exemplar company with an environmental mission, to understand the central contributions of active consumer engagement to the success of CSR initiatives. We explore consumer admiration as a concept necessary to elevate CSR practices from image maintenance to genuine engagement and advocacy, and how such admiration could be cultivated on the consumerside, investigating perceived CSR authenticity and corporate self-sacrifice as primary determinants. Specifically, we speculate the asymmetric role of consumers’ moral identity, revealing that moral identity symbolization positively interacts with both determinants while negatively moderating the relationship of these intentions and consumer admiration. We derive our analysis from diverse international and Korean data, concluding with theoretical and managerial implications for domestic and international companies in pursuit of environmental CSR campaigns that bridge consumer and company, as well as limitations and future research directions.

Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve: Exploring Moral Identity as a Moderator Across CSR Authenticity, Consumer Admiration, and Engagement in the Fashion Industry

A rapidly shifting, hyper-sensitive modern fashion industry, coupled with an increasingly developing global environmental concern, has seen to an ever-imperative role for corporate social responsibility (CSR) to play in the successful operation of fashion companies. This study primarily investigates effective measures for successful CSR implementation in both corporate and consumer domains, looking at Patagonia, an exemplar company with an environmental mission, to understand the central contributions of active consumer engagement to the success of CSR initiatives. We explore consumer admiration as a concept necessary to elevate CSR practices from image maintenance to genuine engagement and advocacy, and how such admiration could be cultivated on the consumerside, investigating perceived CSR authenticity and corporate self-sacrifice as primary determinants. Specifically, we speculate the asymmetric role of consumers’ moral identity, revealing that moral identity symbolization positively interacts with both determinants while negatively moderating the relationship of these intentions and consumer admiration. We derive our analysis from diverse international and Korean data, concluding with theoretical and managerial implications for domestic and international companies in pursuit of environmental CSR campaigns that bridge consumer and company, as well as limitations and future research directions.

A study on the effect of ethical leadership on teachers’ moral motivation at schools in Pakistan

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the influence of ethical leadership on moral motivation of teachers in the schools of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachScenario-based experimental design was used to collect data (N = 174 teachers) from 25 schools in the city of Islamabad. Participants included 156 females and 18 males aged 23–37 years. Ethical leadership was measured at both construct and component levels (moral person and moral manager).FindingsThe results found that the moral person component of ethical leadership style heightens the moral identity (internalization)-based moral motivation, while the moral manager component and ethical leadership at construct level style increases moral identity (symbolization)-based moral motivation. Interestingly, in the absence of reward, only the moral person component of ethical leadership style maintained participants’ moral motivation.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in highlighting the divergence in ethical leadership style at component level that explains the differences in moral motivation of the teachers.

Parenting styles, moral identity and prosocial behaviors in adolescents

The present study explores perceived parenting styles, moral identity and prosocial behaviors in adolescents. It was hypothesized that perceived parenting styles are likely to predict moral identity and prosocial behaviors in adolescents. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that moral identity is likely to mediate the relationship between perceived parenting styles and prosocial behaviors. Through purposive sampling, a sample of 236 (boys = 128; girls = 108) adolescents was selected from different schools of Lahore, Pakistan. Parental Authority Questionnaire-Revised (PAQ-R), Self-Importance of Moral Identity Scale and Prosocial Tendencies Measure-Revised (PTM-R) were administered to collect data. SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze the collected data. Results showed that perceived permissive parenting style was negatively related to moral identity and prosocial behaviors in adolescents. Furthermore, perceived authoritative style was positively related to moral identity and prosocial behaviors. However, in the case of authoritarian style, only perceived mother’s authoritarian style showed negative relationship with prosocial behaviors and only perceived father’s authoritarian style showed positive relationship with moral identity. Moral identity (internalization) was positively related to compliant, altruistic, anonymous, dire, emotional prosocial behaviors while moral identity (symbolization) was positively related to compliant, anonymous, dire, emotional and public prosocial behaviors. Mediation analyses showed that moral identity was a significant mediator between perceived parenting styles and prosocial behaviors. The findings showed that parenting plays an essential role in the internalization of moral values in adolescents.

Lead the horse to water, but don’t make him drink: The effects of moral identity symbolization on coworker behavior depend on perceptions of proselytization

We propose that exposure to moral identity symbolization (i.e., outwardly projected displays of one’s morality) leads observers to increase their helping behavior because they perceive the symbolizer as more scrutinizing of their moral characters, especially when observers expect or have an ongoing relationship with the symbolizer. We further propose that the effect of moral identity symbolization on observer behavior is diminished when symbolization involves behaviors that threaten the autonomy of observers (i.e., moral proselytizing). Empirical data from four studies, consisting of field surveys and experiments, supports our hypotheses. Taken together, this research suggests that moral identity symbolization in the workplace leads to helping behavior in observers as a function of heightened perceptions of moral scrutiny, but that such outward display of morality is only related to helping behavior when the symbolizers avoid proselytizing and when there is an ongoing relationship between the observers and the symbolizers.