Department of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Cologne, Germany.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2013 Jul;39(7):927-42. doi: 10.1177/0146167213485902. Epub 2013 Apr 23.
Psychological research postulates a positive relationship between virtue and happiness. This article investigates whether this relationship holds in cultures where virtue is not socially appreciated. We specifically focus on civic virtue, which is conceptualized as citizens' honesty in interactions with state institutions (e.g., tax compliance). Two indicators served as measures of the degree to which civic virtue is a part of a country's normative climate: These were each country's mean level of punishment directed at above-average cooperative players in public good experiments and the extent to which citizens justify fraud and free-riding. The results of two studies with data from 13 and 73 countries demonstrate that a positive relationship between civic virtue and happiness/life satisfaction is not universal: In countries where antisocial punishment is common and the level of justification of dishonest behaviors is high, virtuous individuals are no longer happier and more satisfied with life than selfish individuals.
心理学研究假设美德与幸福之间存在积极关系。本文探讨了在美德不受社会赞赏的文化中，这种关系是否成立。我们特别关注公民美德，它被概念化为公民与国家机构互动时的诚实（例如，纳税合规）。有两个指标被用作衡量公民美德在一个国家规范气候中所占程度的标准：每个国家在公共利益实验中针对高于平均水平的合作参与者的平均惩罚水平，以及公民为欺诈和搭便车行为辩护的程度。这两项研究的数据来自 13 个和 73 个国家，结果表明，公民美德与幸福/生活满意度之间的积极关系并非普遍存在：在反社会惩罚普遍存在且不诚实行为被合理化程度较高的国家，有道德的人并不比自私的人更幸福，对生活更满意。
