Explorations in Reported Moral Behaviors, Values, and Moral Emotions in Four Countries

Liisa Myyry; Klaus Helkama; Mia Silfver-Kuhalampi; Kristina Petkova; Joaquim Pires Valentim; Kadi Liik

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661172

Explorations in Reported Moral Behaviors, Values, and Moral Emotions in Four Countries

Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 30:12:661172. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661172. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Liisa Myyry¹, Klaus Helkama², Mia Silfver-Kuhalampi², Kristina Petkova³, Joaquim Pires Valentim⁴, Kadi Liik⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
² Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
³ Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.
⁴ Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
⁵ School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia.

Abstract

University students (n = 758) from Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, and Portugal were given a list of morally relevant behaviors (MRB), the Schwartz Value Survey (PVQ40) and Tangney's TOSCA, measuring empathic guilt, guilt over norm-breaking, and shame. A factor analysis of MRB yielded 4 dimensions: prosocial behaviors, interpersonal transgressions, antisocial behaviors and secret transgressions. Prosocial behaviors were predicted by self-transcendence-self-enhancement (SET) value contrast only while the three transgression categories were associated with both SET and openness to change-conservation (hedonism-conformity) contrast. Norm-breaking guilt was more strongly associated with behaviors than were empathic guilt and shame. However, shame was (positively) associated with secret transgressions in three countries, after controlling for values. The associations were strongest in Bulgaria and Estonia while fewer associations were found in Finland and Portugal. The implications of the findings for the cross-cultural psychology of morality are discussed.

Keywords: guilt; moral behavior; secrets; shame; values.