Feeling Vs. Acting Morally

by Patrick Appel

Ryan Sager points to a few new studies on the subject:

The ultimate lesson, I think, is that our motives are rarely what we think they are. We think we want to do good to do good, but more likely we want to do good because we feel guilty. Likewise, those of us who think we’re good people, we’re probably the ones who act the worst because we think we’ve got no moral deficit to pay off.

Further thoughts in his column this week.