Self-Regulatory Processes in the Appraisal of Moral Courage Situations

The present research conceives of morally courageous behavior as goal-directed behavior and extends its investigation from a mere situational approach to a more comprehensive understanding including dispositional determinants related to self-regulatory processes. We tested the assumption that individual difference variables differentially affect the appraisal of the two core constituents of moral courage, namely, norm violation and risk of intervention. In two samples from different cultural (Switzerland/Austria vs. The Netherlands) as well as educational (university vs. representative population sample) backgrounds, participants evaluated norm violation and risk of intervention for six vignettes of situations calling for moral courage. Across both samples, self-transcendence values (benevolence, universalism) predicted the perception of norm violation, whereas personality factors related to affective self-regulation in stressful situations (behavioral inhibition system, state orientation) predicted the perception of intervention risk. These results provide evidence for the imperative of accounting for individual differences in the self-regulation of moral courage behavior.