在知觉他人时，对他人的美德的偏爱性是一种主导因素，一般认为人们喜欢高尚的品德，而厌恶不道德品质。但研究却发现：它们是有条件的，并且可以发生反转。通过外显和内隐的测量方法，对美德和非道德行为的喜爱取决于当前的目标。当不道德品质符合被试的当前目标时，对美德的偏爱消失或反转。仁慈 vs. 无情，诚实 vs. 不诚实，性忠诚 vs. 出轨，利他 vs. 自私都发现如此。对不道德品质的偏爱源于人们对由其而产生的对权力的崇拜，而非是不道德品质本身。
The preference for morality in others is regarded as a dominant factor in person perception. Moral traits are thought to foster liking, and immoral traits are thought to foster disliking, irrespective of the context in which they are embedded. We report the results of four studies that oppose this view. Using both explicit and implicit measures, we found that the preference for morality vs. immorality in others is conditional on the evaluator’s current goals. Specifically, when immorality was conducive to participants’ current goals, the preference for moral vs. immoral traits in others was eliminated or reversed. The preferences for mercifulness vs. mercilessness (experiment 1), honesty vs. dishonesty (experiment 2), sexual fidelity vs. infidelity (experiment 3), and altruism vs. selfishness (experiment 4) were all found to be conditional. These findings oppose the consensus view that people have a dominant preference for moral vs. immoral traits in others. Our findings also speak to nativist and empiricist theories of social preferences and the stability of the “social contract” underlying productive human societies.
