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Abstract
Sociology has seen a renewed interest in the study of morality. However, a theory of the self that explains individual variation in moral behavior and emotions is noticeably absent. In this study, we use identity theory to explain this variability. According to identity theory, actors are self-regulating entities whose goal is to verify their identities. An individual's moral identity-wherever it falls on the moral-immoral continuum-guides behavior, and people experience negative emotions when identity verification does not ensue. Furthermore, the identity verification process occurs within situations that have cultural expectations-that is, framing rules and feeling rules-regarding how individuals should act and feel. These cultural expectations also influence the degree to which people behave morally. We test these assumptions on a sample of more than 350 university students. We investigate whether the moral identity and framing situations in moral terms influences behavior and feelings. Findings reveal that the identity process and framing of situations as moral are significantly associated with moral action and moral emotions of guilt and shame.
Keywords
emotions, identity, morality, self
The sociology of morality is experiencing a resurgence in the discipline (Abend 2010). This is timely given the culture of unchecked consumption and greed that contributed to the 2008 downturn of the U.S. economy. Sociologists are re-examining issues discussed in earlier work, such as the relationship between the moral order and market society (Fourcade and Healy 2007), class and morality (Sayer 2010), and moral order and community (Vaisey 2007). While morality helps maintain the social order, we must be careful not to reify the impact of social institutions on moral behavior and discount the self as an agent of moral action. If we recognize social actors as moral actors, then at issue is why some individuals behave morally and others less so, and why some feel bad for immoral actions while others do not.
Sociological theory and research is needed to understand this variability. For this, we need a theory of the self. We rely on identity theory in sociology (Stryker [1980] 2002; Stryker and Burke 2000) to explain the internal operations of the self. We apply these internal operations to reveal individuals' variability as moral actors, and we test this theory on a sample of college students.
We focus on...