Praise Is for Actions That Are Neither Expected nor Required

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Moral Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Moral praise is a common social feedback mechanism.
• Understanding the psychological underpinnings of moral praise is crucial for social interaction.
• Existing research has not fully explored lay beliefs about what makes actions praiseworthy and what inferences observers draw from praise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate what makes an action praiseworthy.
• To examine what observers infer about behavior and norms when an action receives moral praise.

Main Methods:

• Six studies were conducted to address the research questions.
• Study 1 examined perceptions of dutiful versus supererogatory actions.
• Studies 2-6 investigated observer inferences about the likelihood, commonality, and normativity of praised behaviors.

Main Results:

• Actions exceeding duties were considered more praiseworthy and less likely to occur than dutiful actions.
• While generally expecting praise to increase behavior likelihood, participants inferred praised actions were less common and less expected.
• These inferences led participants to predict individuals would be less likely to perform a praised behavior.

Conclusions:

• Moral praise signals that an action goes beyond duty.
• Praise paradoxically leads observers to infer that the praised behavior is less common and less normative.
• These findings illuminate the complex communicative function and lay interpretation of moral praise.