Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-14T15:53:10.137Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The joy of obligation: Human cultural worldviews can enhance the rewards of meeting obligations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2020

Emma E. Buchtel Open the ORCID record for Emma E. Buchtel [Opens in a new window]
Emma E. Buchtel*
Affiliation:
The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. buchtel@eduhk.hkhttps://repository.eduhk.hk/en/persons/emma-ellen-kathrina-buchtel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Is it particularly human to feel coerced into fulfilling moral obligations, or is it particularly human to enjoy them? I argue for the importance of taking into account how culture promotes prosocial behavior, discussing how Confucian heritage culture enhances the satisfaction of meeting one's obligations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e63
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ames, R. T. & Rosemont, H. J. (2014) Family Reverence (xiao 孝) in the Analects: Confucian role ethics and the dynamics of intergenerational transmission. In: Dao companion to the Analects, ed. Olberding, A., pp. 117–36. Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angle, S. & Slote, M. (2013) Virtue ethics and Confucianism. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anscombe, G. E. M. (1958) Modern moral philosophy. Philosophy 33(124):1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakken, B. (2000) The exemplary society: Human improvement, social control, and the dangers of modernity in China. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Buchtel, E. E., Guan, Y., Peng, Q., Su, Y., Sang, B., Chen, S. X. & Bond, M. H. (2015) Immorality East and West: Are immoral behaviors especially harmful, or especially uncivilized? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 41(10):1382–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215595606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buchtel, E. E., Ng, L. C. Y., Norenzayan, A., Heine, S. J., Biesanz, J. C., Chen, S. X., Bond, M. H., Peng, Q. & Su, Y. (2018) A sense of obligation: Cultural differences in the experience of obligation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 44(11):1545–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218769610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, J. G. & Bersoff, D. M. (1992) Culture and moral judgment: How are conflicts between justice and interpersonal responsibilities resolved? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 62(4):541–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, J. G., Bersoff, D. M. & Harwood, R. L. (1990) Perceptions of social responsibilities in India and in the United States: Moral imperatives or personal decisions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58(1):33–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, J. G., Das, R. & Chakravarthy, S. (2011) Culture and the role of choice in agency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101(1):46–61. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norenzayan, A., Shariff, A. F., Gervais, W. M., Willard, A. K., McNamara, R. A., Slingerland, E. & Henrich, J. (2016) The cultural evolution of prosocial religions. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 39, E1. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X14001356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shun, K.-L. & Wong, D. B. (2004) Introduction. In: Confucian ethics: A comparative study of self, autonomy, and community, ed. Shun, K.-L. & Wong, D. B., pp. 1–7. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B. & Oishi, S. (2008) Being good by doing good: Daily eudaimonic activity and well-being. Journal of Research in Personality 42(1):22–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2007.03.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Telzer, E. H., Fuligni, A. J., Lieberman, M. D. & Galván, A. (2014) Neural sensitivity to eudaimonic and hedonic rewards differentially predict adolescent depressive symptoms over time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(18):6600–05. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323014111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomasello, M. (2016b) Cultural learning redux. Child Development 87(3):643–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomasello, M., Kruger, A. C. & Ratner, H. H. (1993) Cultural learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 16(3):495–511. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0003123X.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tripathi, R., Cervone, D. & Savani, K. (2018) Are the motivational effects of autonomy-supportive conditions universal? Contrasting results among Indians and Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 44(9):1287–1301. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218764663.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed