When Moral Identity Lapses: Extending Prosocial Behaviors Through A Social Moral Identity

Abstract

Moral identity has been a useful tool in understanding and predicting prosocial expressions. The construct is framed as a type of social identity, yet, the social group component is relatively absent from previous empirical research and the construct’s current structure. Across four experimental studies, moral identities with a direct ingroup framing (social moral identity; SMI) were found to differently motivate and predict prosocial behaviors. These effects were found relative to the abstract moral identity (AMI) currently used in research. A theoretical model of a dual motivational process is developed to clarify the key distinctions between AMI and SMI salience. The model illustrates the dichotomy of abstract and group-relevant motivations subsumed within AMI and SMI respectively, and the resulting variations in the receivers of prosocial expressions. Situational cues serve as a key feature of this model, particularly the use of ingroup cues to prime the social identity component of SMI. Trait-activation theory is used to illustrate SMI’s functionality given the relevance of contextual cues to SMI. In all, this research distinguishes SMI as a significant agent of predicting prosocial expressions across contexts where AMI has lapsed, elucidates distinctions in the motivating referents behind moral identity, and highlights representation abilities as a primary driver of those differences.