The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Psychol Sci. 2012 Oct 1;23(10):1193-9. doi: 10.1177/0956797612441222. Epub 2012 Sep 10.
Despite commonsense appeal, the link between self-interest and happiness remains elusive. One reason why individuals may not feel satisfied with self-interest is that they feel uneasy about sacrificing the needs of others for their own gain. We propose that externally imposing self-interest allows individuals to enjoy self-benefiting outcomes that are untainted by self-reproach for failing to help others. Study 1 demonstrated that an imposed self-interested option (a reward) leads to greater happiness than does choosing between a self-interested option and a prosocial option (a charity donation). Study 2 demonstrated that this effect is not driven by choice in general; rather, it is the specific trade-off between benefiting the self and benefiting others that inhibits happiness gained from self-interest. We theorize that the agency inherent in choice reduces the hedonic value of self-interest. Results of Study 3 find support for this mechanism.
尽管有常识性的吸引力，但自我利益与幸福之间的联系仍然难以捉摸。个人可能对自我利益感到不满的一个原因是，他们对为了自己的利益而牺牲他人的需求感到不安。我们提出，外部强加的自我利益使个人能够享受不受因未能帮助他人而自责的自我受益结果。研究 1 表明，强加的自利选择（奖励）比在自利选择和亲社会选择（慈善捐赠）之间进行选择带来更大的幸福感。研究 2 表明，这种影响不是由一般的选择驱动的；相反，正是在自我受益和造福他人之间进行具体的权衡，抑制了从自我利益中获得的幸福感。我们的理论是，选择所固有的代理权降低了自我利益的享乐价值。研究 3 的结果支持了这一机制。
