More important and surprising actions of a moral exemplar trigger stronger admiration and inspiration
van de Ven,Niels Archer,Alfred Engelen,Bart
van de Ven,Niels
Archer,Alfred
Engelen,Bart
Abstract
Admiring a moral role model has been found to inspire people to become better persons themselves. But what are the antecedents that trigger admiration and thus make inspiration more likely? In three studies, we tested the effect of perceived importance and perceived surprisingness of the moral action on resulting admiration and inspiration. Study 1 finds that perceived importance, and to a lesser extent, the perceived surprisingness of a moral action, are related to stronger admiration. Manipulating the perceived importance of the same moral action by only providing a little more detail about the moral action, could increase the admiration and inspiration the role models elicit (Studies 2 and 3). Our findings help the understanding of how moral exemplars trigger inspiration and provide valuable insights into further investigation toward the causes of admiration.
Description
Date
2019-08
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Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
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Keywords
admiration, inspiration, moral elevation, role models, appraisals
Citation
van de Ven, N, Archer, A & Engelen, B 2019, 'More important and surprising actions of a moral exemplar trigger stronger admiration and inspiration', Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 159, no. 4, pp. 383-397. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2018.1498317