title: The problem of moral motivation and the happy victimizer phenomenon: killing two birds with one stone.
abstract: One surprising feature of cognitive and emotional development in the moral domain is the so-called happy victimizer phenomenon, which is commonly explained by a lack of moral motivation. Concerning this general approach, there are two pieces of news in this chapter. The bad news is that moral motivation is a highly problematic concept and its purported theoretical role in moral functioning untenable. The good news is that the happy victimizer phenomenon can be explained without reference to something like "moral motivation."
authors.affiliation: RWTH Aachen University, Germany. minnameier@lbw.rwth-aachen.de
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minnameier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D019548:Crime Victims; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009014:Morals; D009042:Motivation; D011582:Psychological Theory