Psychology Commons^™

Moral Traps: When Self-Serving Attributions Backfire In Prosocial Behavior, Stephanie C. Lin, Julian J. Zlatev, Dale T. Miller

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Two assumptions guide the current research. First, people's desire to see themselves as moral disposes them to make attributions that enhance or protect their moral self-image: When approached with a prosocial request, people are inclined to attribute their own noncompliance to external factors, while attributing their own compliance to internal factors. Second, these attributions can backfire when put to a material test. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that people who attribute their refusal of a prosocial request to an external factor (e.g., having an appointment), but then have that excuse removed, are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior than …