Social Motivation, Justice, and the Moral Emotions : an Attributional Approach / Bernard Weiner

d e This page intentionally left blank An Attributional Approach d e Bernard Weiner University of California–Los Angeles LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS 2006 Mahwah, New Jersey London Copyright © 2006 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, New Jersey 07430 www.erlbaum.com Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Weiner, Bernard, 1935– Social motivation, justice, and the moral emotions : an attributional approach / Bernard Weiner. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8058-5526-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-8058-5527-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Motivation (Psychology)—Social aspects. 2. Social justice. 3. Emotions. 4. Social justice. I. Title. BF503.W45 2005 153.8—dc22 2005041459 CIP Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on acid-free paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability. Printed in the United States of America 10987654321 Contents Preface xi Prologue xv A Theory of Social Motivation and Justice: Logic 1 and Development The Role of Metaphors 3 Achievement Evaluation 5 Reactions to the Stigmatized 16 A Theoretical Integration 20 Help Giving 22 Compliance With Others in Power 25 Aggression 29 Including Responsibility and Differentiating It From Control and Intent 32 A Preliminary Theory of Social Conduct 33 The Role of Emotion 34 A More Complete Theory of Social Behavior 38 Additional Comments About Responsibility and Emotions 39 Summary 42 vi CONTENTS Testing the Theory and Incorporating Cultural 44 and Individual Differences The Motivation Sequence 45 Meta-Analyses of Help Giving and Aggression 47 Cultural Differences 65 Individual Differences 68 Characteristics of the Theory 79 Summary 84 The Moral Emotions and Creating Positive Moral 86 Impressions Identifying the Moral Emotions 87 On Creating Positive Moral Impressions 97 Arrogance and Envy; Modesty and Admiration 98 Impression Formation and Excuses 106 Confession 113 Final Thoughts on Account Giving 121 Summary 122 Reward and Punishment 124 Reward as an Inhibitor of Motivation and Punishment as a Positive Motivator 126 The Goals of Punishment 134 Punishment Goals From an Attributional Perspective 138 Consequences of Anticipated Reward and Threat of Punishment on Judgments of Responsibility 150 Summary 157 A Visit to the Courtroom Settings: Is the Theory Useful? 160 The Classroom as a Courtroom 161 The Mentally Ill and Others Stigmatized in the Courtroom of Life 165 Spouses in the Courtroom 171 Businesses in the Courtroom 174 Aggressors and Their Victims in the Courtroom of Life 176 Summary 185 CONTENTS Epilogue 187 The Positives 189 The Negatives 190 Theoretical Longevity 191 A Naïve or a Scientific Theory? 193 What Next? 194 References 197 Author Index 213 Subject Index 219 This page intentionally left blank Why is it we want so badly to memorialize ourselves? Even while we’re still alive. We wish to assert our existence .… We put on display our framed photographs, our parchment diplomas, our silver-plated cups; we monogram our linen, we carve our names on trees, we scrawl them on washroom walls. It’s all the same im- pulse. What do we hope from it? Applause, envy, respect? Or simply attention, of any kind we can get? At the very least we want a witness. Wecan’t stand the idea of our own voices falling silent finally, like a radio running down. —Margaret Atwood From The Blind Assassin (p. 95) This page intentionally left blank Preface It was about 10 years ago that my book, Judgments of Responsibility: Foundations for a Theory of Social Conduct (Weiner, 1995) was published. In the subsequent decade, the theoretical and empirical work presented there has expanded in many directions. These extensions are reflected in the title of this book: Social Motivation, Justice, and the Moral Emotions: An Attributional Approach. The book is organized as follows. A short prologue is followed by five chapters, each representing a main theoretical and/or empirical legacy, conclud- ing with an epilogue. The first chapter considers the logical development and structure of a theory of social motivation and justice. I examine how the metaphors of the person is a judge and life is a courtroom, and the concepts of causal control and responsibility, allow the theory to address phenomena re- lated to achievement evaluation, stigmatization, help giving, reactions to transgressors, and aggression. In so doing, I document the breadth and rela- tional fertility of the conception. Inferences of responsibility and the emotions they generate are the key mediators within the theory. Chapter 2 examines: (a) the testing of the theory within the contexts of help giving and aggression; (b) cultural and individual differences, particularly political ide- ology; and (c) broad characteristics and special features of the theory as com- pared with other motivational conceptions. Thus, the theory presented in chapter 1 is placed under an empirical and conceptual microscope, and mod- erators are introduced and placed beside mediators. Emotions are the theme in chapter 3 with the discussion focusing on so-called moral emotions, which were restricted to anger and sympathy in chapters 1 and 2. There is an analy- sis of emotions not considered in my prior work, including admiration, envy, xii PREFACE gratitude, jealousy, regret, Schadenfreude, and scorn. I also examine per- ceived arrogance and modesty and communications eliciting these personal- ity inferences, for they relate to moral emotions. This also is a new direction, not previously considered from this theoretical perspective. In addition, in chapter 3 the creation and management of impressions are considered in the context of excuse giving, confession, and other social communications that alter causal beliefs and feelings of others. Chapter 4 contains a discussion of reward and punishment, two themes closely linked to social justice. This chapter continues to pursue the goal of documenting the breadth of the theory and its ability to address traditional topics of motivation from a different vantage point. Included within this chapter is a distinction between utilitar- ian versus retributive punishment goals and how disparate attributions evoke different purposes of punishment. Then, in chapter 5, I provide applications of the theory to everyday problems. The applications are in the context of the school, counseling of marital couples in distress and families with a mentally or physically ill member,organizations, and for aggressive parents and youths. These five chapters are followed by an epilogue that adds a “pleasing symme- try” to the book, providing balance to the prologue by pointing out the major accomplishments of the theory and its shortcomings. Within the chapters, readers will find 13 experiments that can be performed in a group or class setting. These studies provide concreteness to the abstract discussions as well as adding face validity to the theory inasmuch as the data generated by the readers will replicate the experiments reported in the book. This is a bold statement, but as revealed in the prologue, one of my writing strategies is to be intrepid. This book is most pertinent to motivational and social psychologists. How- ever,because of the breadth of topics covered, it can be of use to individuals in a variety of disciplines, including clinical, educational, organizational, and per- sonality psychology. It is written primarily for professionals and graduate students but the level of writing is within easy grasp of undergraduates as well. The current work could be used as a text in seminars focusing on attribution theory, social motivation, or social justice. In addition, it may serve as a supplementary source in courses examining aggression, emotion, help giving, impression management, punishment, and other topics that are indicated in the table of contents. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many individuals deserving of thanks and gratitude. These include the numerous undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows PREFACE who have worked with me over the years and contributed to the ideas in this product. Chris Crandall and Nancy Eisenberg provided many important sug- gestions as reviewers. In addition, I owe a great debt to Chris Williams for his dedicated editing and teaching me important rules of writing. And my wife, Jaana Juvonen, gave valuable advice that resulted in major book revisions. As usual, Jaana and my daughter, Miina, created the positive setting in which this kind of endeavor can reach fruition. This is certainly my final book product, and reaching this goal gives me a great deal of fulfillment and satisfaction. This page intentionally left blank Prologue To avoid some of the pitfalls encountered when writing a book, I made a number of decisions at the outset that determined my style of writing as well as defining more clearly the content of this work. These resolutions involved apparently competing polarities. ADVOCACY VERSUS HONESTY This book is guided by what might be considered two conflicting or contradictory rules: Rule #1. Tonot hide any light under a barrel. Tobe a salesperson and “put my best foot forward.” To be forceful and certain. Rule #2. Tonot hide any shortcomings. Tobe aware of justified criticism. To be realistic and honest, recognizing limitations and shortcomings. Despite the apparent inconsistency of these rules, I do not regard them as conflicting or contradictory. Quite the contrary. Trained miners can discrimi- nate between fool’s gold and genuine gold, and if one is forthright in identifying the fake, then the real is more likely to be accepted. THEORETICAL VERSUS EMPIRICAL FOCUS There are other characteristics of this book also captured by apparently contradictory statements. Among them is a distinction between a theory-oriented versus a data-focused approach.

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