Identity as a Source of Moral Motivation

2005/01/01 by Sam A. Hardy, Gustavo Carlo · 9 citations
Decision Sciences · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Ethics in Business and Education #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Cultural Differences and Values

paper · doi:10.1159/000086859

openalex publication_date 2005/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Theory and research regarding moral motivation has focused for decades on the roles of moral reasoning and, to some extent, moral emotion. Recently, however, several models of morality have positioned identity as an additional important source of moral motivation. An individual has a moral identity to the extent that he or she has constructed his or her sense of self around moral concerns (e.g., moral values). This paper reviews theory and research linking moral identity to moral behavior and commitment. Additionally, it suggests several key unanswered questions about moral identity and provides recommendations for future research.

Citations

• Moral cognition and moral action: A theoretical perspective
• The Development of Identity. A Critical Analysis from the Perspective of the Self as Subject
• The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.

Cited by

• Recognizing Moral Identity as a Cultural Construct
• A cognitive approach to the ‘happy victimiser’
• Brother or Burden: An Experiment on Reducing Prejudice Toward Syrian Refugees in Turkey
• Does Moral Identity Effectively Predict Moral Behavior?: A Meta-Analysis
• Moral Identity: What Is It, How Does It Develop, and Is It Linked to Moral Action?
• Phronesis and the Knowledge-Action Gap in Moral Psychology and Moral Education: A New Synthesis?
• Moral Complexity
• Moral Self-Identity and the Social-Cognitive Theory of Virtue
• Moral development [wikipedia]