title: Conformism moderates the relations between values, anticipated regret, and behavior.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the moderating effect of Conformism values on the relations between other values and behavior. The authors expected people low, but not high, in Conformism to behave in a manner that is consistent with their personal values related to self-transcendence versus self-enhancement. In Study 1 (N = 199), such values predicted actual altruistic behavior, as estimated by other-reports, but only if Conformism values were low. In Study 2 (N = 189), only people who considered Conformism values to be relatively unimportant showed expected connections between self-transcendence values and anticipated regret in hypothetical scenarios having negative consequences. The data are interpreted as supporting the view that (a) anticipated regret motivates value-consistent behavior, (b) self-transcendence values in particular are connected to altruistic behavior and to anticipated regret, but (c) conformity to social norms moderates these connections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jan-Erik
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lönnqvist
authors.forename: Sointu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leikas
authors.forename: Sampo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paunonen
authors.forename: Vesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nissinen
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verkasalo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D012925:Social Conformity; D012945:Social Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires