University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2024 Mar;50(3):406-422. doi: 10.1177/01461672221092273. Epub 2022 May 7.
Helping acts, however well intended and beneficial, sometimes involve immoral means or immoral helpers. Here, we explore whether help recipients consider moral evaluations in their appraisals of gratitude, a possibility that has been neglected by existing accounts of gratitude. Participants felt less grateful and more uneasy when offered immoral help (Study 1, = 150), and when offered morally neutral help by an immoral helper (Study 2, = 172). In response to immoral help or helpers, participants were less likely to accept the help and less willing to strengthen their relationship with the helper even when they accepted it. Study 3 ( = 276) showed that recipients who felt grateful when offered immoral help were perceived as less likable, less moral, and less suitable as close relationship partners than those who felt uneasy by observers. Our results demonstrate that gratitude is morally sensitive and suggest this might be socially adaptive.
帮助行为，无论其意图和益处如何，有时可能涉及不道德的手段或不道德的帮助者。在这里，我们探讨了帮助接受者在评价感激之情时是否会考虑道德评价，而这一可能性在现有的感激之情理论中被忽视了。当参与者被提供不道德的帮助时（研究 1，n=150），或者当他们被不道德的帮助者提供道德中立的帮助时（研究 2，n=172），他们会感到不那么感激，也不那么自在。对于不道德的帮助或帮助者，即使接受了帮助，参与者也不太可能接受帮助，也不太愿意加强与帮助者的关系。研究 3（n=276）表明，与那些感到不安的观察者相比，当被提供不道德的帮助时感到感激的接受者被认为更不可爱、更不道德、更不适合作为亲密关系的伴侣。我们的结果表明，感激之情是有道德敏感性的，这可能是具有适应性的。
