title: Straying From the Righteous Path and From Ourselves: The Interplay Between Perceptions of Morality and Self-Knowledge.
abstract: The present research addresses the relationship between morally valenced behavior and perceptions of self-knowledge, an outcome that has received little attention in moral psychology. We propose that morally valenced behavior is related to subjective perceptions of self-knowledge, such that people experience lower levels of self-knowledge when they are reminded of their immoral behaviors. We tested this proposition in four studies ( N = 1,177). Study 1 used daily-diary methods and indicates that daily perceptions of self-knowledge covary with daily levels of morally valenced behavior. The final three studies made use of experimental methods and demonstrate that thinking about immoral behaviors attenuates current perceptions of self-knowledge. The predicted relationships and effects generally persist when controlling for self-esteem. Based on our findings, we argue that perceived self-knowledge may play a functional role in moral self-concept maintenance and moral regulatory processes.
authors.affiliation: 1 Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Christy
authors.affiliation: 1 Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seto
authors.affiliation: 1 Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schlegel
authors.affiliation: 2 Montana State University, Bozeman, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vess
authors.affiliation: 1 Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hicks
keywords: moral regulation; morality; self-knowledge; true self